LAUNCH
Irvine-based Wing recently launched its artificial intelligence-powered personal assistant app for Apple and Android devices. The app was voted No. 1 Product of the Day on Product Hunt, a Y Combinator-backed startup that helps users find popular new products.
The software-as-a-service upstart charges $9.99 to $19.99 per month and provides users with a variety of personal assistant-type services—think vacation planning and appointment booking—and is designed to require minimal work on the part of the user. Users simply text the Wing platform, and Wing replies with an itinerary to confirm payment and get the job done.
After a three-month beta release, the team is adding personalized features such as “habits” that suggest services based on recurring behaviors such as food orders.
The company said it will grow its service options with demand; one of its partners includes Laguna Niguel-based household chore service provider Neighboring, which was featured in the Feb. 17 print edition of the Business Journal’s Startups & Innovations column.
Both Wing and Neighboring are part of the UCI Beall Applied Innovation Wayfinder incubator at UCI Research Park.
Wing was founded in 2018 by Chief Executive Karan Kanwar, Chief Operating Officer Martin Gomez, Chief Marketing Officer Roland Polzin and Chief Technology Officer Saideep Gupta.
AI expert Neil Sahota is one of the team’s advisers.
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Vantis Institute, a medical aesthetics clinic that opened in late 2019 in Newport Beach, is offering a noninvasive hair rejuvenation treatment.
It’s growing steadily—it has seen about 58 patients in three months—and plans to open five new locations in California and Texas over the next 15 months.
The company claims it can replicate the healthiest hair follicles of a patient with a physician-formulated, organic pigment, delivered to the dermis of the skin at precise depths and angles using an instrument like a microblade.
The pigment can match any hair color and thickness on both men and women to correct hairlines and cover bald spots, according to co-founder and Clinical Director Jessica Oslo.
“There are a lot of noninvasive procedures for hair rejuvenation, but most [treatments] don’t offer guaranteed results,” Oslo said. “We’re offering guaranteed, instant hair results and we have clients coming in worldwide.”
Hair transplant surgery ranges from $20,000 to $30,000 and takes about six to 12 months to provide results, with the possibility of scarring.
A three to four hour Vantis Follicle Replication treatment costs about $800 to $15,500. Most clients are satisfied with the results after three or four sessions, the company said. Pain is described as minimal and recovery time is a maximum of 36 hours.
Oslo is an expert in scar tissue. She is dual certified in paramedical and scalp micro-pigmentation and spent the last 11 years working for plastic surgeons in Orange County.
The company has been funded by a local angel investor thus far and will seek additional funding soon.
Vantis Institute has about seven employees and is hiring.
PERSONNEL
Irvine-based Orbee Auto, a cloud-based marketing platform for automotive dealerships, added Peter Fong to its strategic advisory board.
Fong runs his own consulting business for companies in the automotive industry. Prior to joining Orbee Auto, he served as senior vice president of dealership operations at the National Automobile Dealers Association.
He has more than 25 years of industry experience including senior-level positions at Chrysler Group LLC and Ford Motor Co.
Fong said that Orbee Auto’s team and mission to help dealerships “navigate complex digital waters” aligned with his vision for the industry’s future.
He said, “I’m excited to bring more awareness of this company to all my long-term dealership and industry relationships.”
Orbee Auto raised a $1 million seed round last year and has about 25 employees at UCI Research Park.
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Laguna Hills-based Prelude Corp., a molecular diagnostics and testing firm for early-stage breast cancer, has named Edwin Hendrick chief commercial officer and Dr. David Dabbs chief of pathology.
Hendrick’s career spans three decades in the healthcare industry, including executive roles at Biocept Inc., Decipher BioSciences Inc. and Irvine-based Plus Diagnostics.
He will spearhead commercialization efforts for the company’s risk assessment test, which predicts the benefits of radiation therapy for patients with DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ).
Dabbs was previously chief of pathology at Magee-Women’s Hospital at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for nearly 20 years and is considered a world-renowned expert in breast pathology.
He will provide pathology guidance and lead the company’s new patient consultation program, called Breast Second Opinion Service.
Co-founder and Chairman Olav Bergheim launched Prelude in 2009. Bergheim is also the co-founder of dental company Sonendo Inc., Orange County’s fastest-growing private company in 2019, and San Clemente-based ophthalmologic device and drugmaker Glaukos Corp.
Prelude has raised about $26.5 million in funding since its inception, regulatory filings indicate.
PERSONNEL
London-based Contura, a specialty medical device and pharmaceutical products firm, has opened an office at 18001 Cowan in Irvine, its first U.S. location.
The spot near John Wayne Airport follows federal pre-market approval for Contura’s treatment for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in adult women.
Contura also appointed a team to lead U.S. commercialization, helmed by Vice President of U.S. Sales Casey Kanel, who previously spent 29 years at Medtronic PLC’s pelvic health division. Additional local leadership includes Tim Kelp, Angelo Mastrio and Omar Mojica.
SUI is common among women following pregnancy and childbirth, and increases with age, as pelvic muscles weaken. As a result, patients are unable to control their bladder under pressure from coughing, laughing, and physical activities.
Contura’s Bulkamid treatment is a soft hydrogel, made up of a stabilizing polymer and water, which creates “urethra bulking,” and prevents leaking from daily activities, company officials said.
The treatment is administered via three or four injections and takes about five to 10 minutes. It is considered noninvasive and recovery time is minimal, officials added.
More than 70,000 patients in about 25 countries have been treated with Bulkamid and three out of four women report cured or improved symptoms with no long-term complications, according to the company website.
Contura was founded in 2000 and distributes several additional products for bladder-related disorders. It counts about 50 employees companywide.
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Forte Medical in London recently opened a satellite office in Irvine, a deal made in partnership with the Greater Irvine Chamber of Commerce.
The company is the creator of the Peezy Midstream, a urine collection system that is used to diagnose and recommend treatments for urinary tract infections. The device is available in the U.S. exclusively through Owen Mumford USA.
UTIs affect nearly 150 million people every year, according to the National Institutes of Health. However, about 20% of urine samples are unreliable, resulting in misdiagnosis and mistreatment such as overprescribing antibiotics, according to company officials.
Founding Director Vincent Forte, who is now retired, invented the Peezy Midstream. His sister, Giovanna Forte, serves as chief executive.
The company, based at 11 Health & Technologies Inc. at 8 Hughes near Chapman University’s Rinker Health Science campus, says it is now developing a portfolio of devices to identify early-stage cancers.
