PartPic, which launched at last year’s TC Startup Battlefield in San Francisco, announced it has closed a $1.5 million dollar seed round from a group of 15+ angels, VCs, and strategic investors including Robert Saunders, Joanne Wilson, the Arc Angel Fund, and the Jumpfund.
PartPic works like this: After being licensed by a manufacturing company, PartPic obtains 360 degree photos and metadata of every part in the company’s inventory. A user can then can takes a photo of a specific part (think small screws or bolts) and PartPic’s software automatically identifies the name and model number of that part.
For example, when a customer is missing a screw from their furniture set, they no longer have to spend 30 minutes on the phone trying to describe the piece. They simply would take a photo of the part, and PartPic’s algorithm would instantly identify the part’s name and model number so they could quickly be sent a replacement.
This solution could save a great deal of both time and money for companies, as some manufacturers have inventories of up to 500,000 parts.
In addition to closing this seed round, PartPic has also recently won a number of pitch competitions. These include best enterprise technology at SXSW’s accelerator showcase, and first place at The Rise of the Rest pitch competition in Atlanta, which won them a $100,000 investment from AOL Co-Founder Steve Case.