IQ Engines
Provides an image recognition platform that automatically tags and organizes user photos.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | €0.0 | round | |
| N/A | €0.0 | round | |
| investor investor | €0.0 | round | |
N/A | Acquisition | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
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Founded in 2008 by Gerry Pesavento and David Warland, IQ Engines emerged as a specialized firm in the application software sector, with a focus on image recognition technology. Based in Berkeley, California, the company directed its efforts towards developing sophisticated software capable of transforming photographs into searchable data. The core of its offering was an Application Programming Interface (API) that enabled a diverse client base—ranging from online retailers and mobile application developers to photo gallery websites—to integrate visual search capabilities into their platforms.
The company's flagship product was an image recognition platform known as Glow. This technology was designed to automatically identify and categorize various elements within a photo, including scenes, objects, landmarks, text, and people. This functionality allowed for the automatic tagging and organization of images, a significant value proposition for businesses managing large volumes of visual content. The business model centered on providing this technology to clients who could then monetize their image libraries by matching them with relevant retailers and advertisers. Operationally, IQ Engines provided its technology for easy integration with both mobile and web applications, broadening its market reach.
The company successfully secured $4.8 million in funding over several rounds from investors, including Third Point Ventures and the venture capital arm of Motorola Solutions. A notable funding event was a Series B round on October 26, 2011, which raised $3.8 million. Ultimately, IQ Engines' journey culminated in its acquisition by Yahoo on August 24, 2013. The acquisition was an "acqui-hire," leading to the integration of the IQ Engines team into Yahoo's Flickr division to enhance photo organization and search functionalities on the popular photo-sharing platform. Following the acquisition, the company ceased new sign-ups and discontinued its API service.
Keywords: image recognition, visual search, photo tagging, application programming interface, API, computer vision, photo monetization, image data, object recognition, scene detection, text recognition, people recognition, landmark recognition, photo organization, visual content management, Yahoo acquisition, Flickr, Motorola Solutions, Third Point Ventures