Orange-based startup tablet maker grandPad Inc. has partnered with Switzerland’s largest telecom in its first international expansion.
GrandPad tablet users can view photos and videos on social media, play games, check the weather, listen to music, send voicemails, video chat, or make phone calls through voice activation or the touch of a button.
The device and service, which allows users to stay connected with family, friends and caregivers, costs about $60 a month per user.
Swisscom AG will provide data connectivity for the 4G LTE-equipped tablets and manage customer relationships for a soft launch, with a broader rollout expected early next year.
Swisscom AG’s broadband service connects about 2.9 million homes and business in the central European country of about 8 million. Swisscom posted revenue of about $1 billion last year.
“Switzerland has a large aging population and they’re very concerned with the wellness of their seniors,” grandPad co-founder Scott Lien told the Business Journal from the Swiss Alps during a European tour to drum up new business there, with an itinerary that included Italy, Germany and Ireland.
The tablet sold in Switzerland translates text and voice into German, one of four national languages spoken in the country, thanks to Alec Richter, a recent Chapman University graduate and grandPad employee. The company, which was incubated at Chapman’s campus in Orange about 2 ½ years ago, has hired several students and recent grads, including current student Angel Lin, a Taiwan native who is helping the company develop a version for Chinese users.
GrandPad also extended a deal with Comfort Keepers, a brand of Dayton, Ohio-based distributor CK Franchising Inc., to get more of its tablets in the hands of seniors.
The deal builds on an existing U.S. distribution agreement reached in April, expanding it to Comfort Keeper’s 700 markets in 80 countries.
CK Franchising itself is a unit of French conglomerate Sodexo Group, a professional services provider with annual sales topping $28 billion. Its services, which include home care, target 75 million consumers daily.
The Business Journal in April reported that grandPad attracted $11 million in a preferred stock sale to a unit of Acer Inc. in Taiwan, which now controls nearly 49% of the company. Acer, the world’s fifth largest PC supplier, sold more than 19.6 million units last year, according to Framingham, Mass.-based market tracker IDC.
Cargile to Sunworks Inc.
Charles Cargile, the former chief financial officer at Newport Corp., has been named an independent director at Roseville-based solar installation provider Sunworks Inc.
Cargile served as finance chief and treasurer for 15 years at the Irvine-based laser and related equipment maker until its $980 million April sale to MKS Instruments in Massachusetts. Newport Corp. under his tenure made 10 buys that added more than $400 million in annual sales.
He’s nearly finished with a six-month role as executive financial adviser at MKS centered on integrating the combined companies.
Cargile also is a board member at Irvine-based storage equipment maker Netlist Inc.
Amazon’s OC Game
Amazon.com’s recent buy of Irvine-based Curse Inc., which creates content specifically for gamers, is the retail giant’s second in OC in the last few years.
The Seattle-based company in February 2014 acquired Irvine-based video game maker Double Helix Games on undisclosed terms. Amazon has quietly built a presence here with its Amazon Web Services hub, an Amazon Game Studios unit and Amazon’s a2z Development Center Inc., a unit that was instrumental in rolling out the Amazon Appstore for Android.
The Curse buy was rolled under its Twitch.tv unit, the world’s largest live-streaming site for gaming content. Curse, which was established in 2006 and acquired on undisclosed terms, counts more than 30 million monthly visitors on its websites, video channels, social media outlets and desktop applications.
