PARTNERSHIPS
Irvine-based software maker Eyes4Lives has signed an agreement to license its Dr. i-Coach software to Taiwanese Quanta Computer Inc., one of the largest laptop manufacturers in the world.
Eyes4Lives software helps mitigate the symptoms of digital eye strain by tracking a device user’s habits through the phone or computer camera, including blink rate, screen distance, sitting height, ambient lighting, and total screen time, and alerting the user when they should take breaks or make adjustments.
Chief Executive Parham Javaherian said Quanta will begin to install i-Coach software on its laptops by the end of the second quarter but can’t say which brands will have it.
Javaherian said software inclusion will be similar to the “anti-virus model”—available on the laptop for 90 days free, and then the consumer will have to pay to continue using it.
Eyes4Lives raised a $2.8 million seed round in 2016 and has six employees.
The company is looking to close a $1.5 million Series A by the end of June, and Javaherian said it is in talks with both local and international investors.
Fullerton-based app design firm Point ‘N Save has secured a partnership with the North Orange County Chamber of Commerce to provide the organization with a technology framework for its app.
Founder John Barton said Point ‘N Save designs apps that can be white-labeled for clients’ use, including logo and color scheme. Barton said he decided to focus first on chambers of commerce because he felt there was a hole in the marketplace for local business owners to highlight services and events and communicate with each other.
Point ‘N Save is part of the California State University-Fullerton startup incubator, and received a seed round of funding in October 2018 from a member of the Fullerton-based Titan Angel Fund, though Barton declined to share specifics.
He’s in talks with other Southern California chambers of commerce to license and use the app.
FINANCING
Irvine-based Prodoscore, which provides online tools to measure and improve workforce productivity, has closed a $1.1 million seed round, led by Sam Naficy, who joined the Prodoscore board as its chairman, and included friends and family funds.
Prodoscore’s cloud-based software analyzes how employees are using core business tools, including email, phone, and customer-relationship management software, and calculates a score based on productivity including by emails sent; duration and number of phone calls; calendar events; and number of leads entered into a CRM database.
Naficy was former founder and chief executive of Boston-based DTiQ, a software-as-a-service security company that provides loss prevention and employee management in the hospitality and retail sectors.
Prodoscore was founded by Denise Hazime in 2016. Hazime is an entrepreneur whose previous technology companies, Los Angeles-based VIWO and Irvine-based gUnify, were both acquired in the last four years.
Hazime said Prodoscore was originally designed to be a coaching tool to help improve sales performance, but can be used in other ways, such as providing insight into which communication tactics are most effective.
PRODUCTS
Irvine-based Mind Brain Parenting released its latest product, a card game called ‘52 Essential Relationships’ that provides talking points for conversations among couples, within families, and at work to facilitate conversations and resolve conflict.
Founder Jenny Woo launched the company last year with the release of its first product, an emotional intelligence card game called ‘52 Essential Conversations’ which focused on interaction between parents and children. For example, one card reads “What is a new responsibility you want to have? How can you show that you are ready?”
Mind Brain Parenting is part of University of California-Irvine’s Applied Innovation Wayfinder program. The company was funded initially with a Kickstarter campaign that raised $10,000, 700% over the initial goal, but Woo said the company has been profitable almost since launch.
Mind Brain Parenting products are available on Amazon and via the company website, and retail for $25. Woo said games have sold in 50 states and 34 countries, and have been incorporated into school curricula, an area where she’s looking to expand.
Online reputation management company Convuent has a new Business Visibility Scan that allows businesses to see how their company is viewed by search engines such as Google and Bing.
The San Clemente-based company aggregates businesses’ reviews across websites like Facebook, Yelp and TripAdvisor.
It uses language processing to identify and alert clients to any negative reviews so they can respond immediately and ensures company details are accurate across websites, which helps improve search engine rankings.
Convuent launched in 2016 and has seven employees.
The company works directly with some clients including many dentists, but also licenses its technology to other online reputation management companies.
Co-founder Jeff Foster said Convuent has been bootstrapped so far, and will generate $2 million in revenue this year.
Irvine software maker WurkNow’s workforce management app targets blue-collar industries.
Co-founder Sammy Singh said the app helps streamline the process for workers who don’t have resumes to work with staffing agencies to get jobs in industries such as light industrial, warehousing, manufacturing and security. Once a worker accepts a job, the staffing agency can also use the WurkNow app to do necessary training, for time keeping, and to confirm overtime and California meal break compliance.
The bilingual—English and Spanish—app is built on blockchain technology to ensure transparency between worker, employer and staffing agency; Singh said this can save employers money on legal fees by creating a trail of records showing compliance with state rules in the event of a lawsuit.
The company was founded in 2017 by Singh and Chief Technology Officer TJ Sehmi, and has received two rounds of seed funding from private investors.
WurkNow plans to release an employer-focused app in the coming weeks to help companies monitor injury reports, overtime and meal violations in real time.
