Kooaba

Kooaba AG was a computer vision company that specialized in cloud-based image recognition and augmented reality. It was established in Zurich, Switzerland, in 2006 as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH). The founders, Till Quack and Herbert Bay, both PhDs from ETH Zurich, envisioned making the physical world interactive through mobile devices well before the first iPhone was released. Their academic backgrounds in computer vision were foundational to the company's technological pursuits.

The company's core business involved providing an Application Programming Interface (API) that allowed developers and companies to integrate its visual search technology into their own applications. This B2B SaaS model targeted clients in sectors like publishing and eCommerce, enabling them to connect physical items, such as print advertisements or product packaging, to digital content. One of its most notable clients was the wine app Vivino, which utilized Kooaba's engine for wine label recognition. The technology allowed a user to take a picture of an object, like a book cover or poster, and receive related information, price comparisons, or links. In addition to its API business, Kooaba developed its own mobile app called Shortcut, which was designed to make print media interactive for consumers. This app eventually spun out into a sister company, Shortcut Media AG, in 2012 to focus solely on the publishing and advertising industry, with Herbert Bay becoming its CEO while Till Quack continued to lead Kooaba's core technology business.

Throughout its operation, Kooaba achieved significant milestones, including launching the world's first mobile app for visual search on the iPhone in 2008 and raising $2.92 million in a Series A funding round in August 2010. The company was recognized as a TOP 100 Swiss Startup in 2011. In January 2014, Kooaba was acquired by Qualcomm for an undisclosed amount. The team and its technology were integrated into Qualcomm's Vuforia platform, a prominent augmented reality development kit, marking a successful exit for the Swiss startup.

Keywords: image recognition, visual search, augmented reality, computer vision, mobile technology, API, SaaS, ETH spin-off, Qualcomm acquisition, Vuforia, interactive print, product recognition, label recognition, visual search engine, mobile visual search, cloud-based recognition, Till Quack, Herbert Bay, Shortcut app, Vivino