19.06.2023 16:04, Rita Longobardi

The Swiss startup kooaba was acquired by Qualcomm in 2014. We have talked with the founders Herbert Bay and Till Quack about their journey and what they have done since the exit. Discover how these visionary entrepreneurs have charted new paths, embracing fresh challenges and pushing the boundaries of innovation in their post-kooaba ventures.

Kooaba was an ETH Spin-off that developed image recognition technology connecting the physical world to digital content and was the first to introduce mobile visual search. The founders started their journey with a venture idea in 2006, participated in the Venture Plan course in 2007, joined the Swiss National Startup Team in 2007, and have been a TOP 100 Startup in 2011.

What were kooaba’s key achievements?
"At the time (2007-2014), we were one of the key global players for visual search, an application of Computer Vision (and today AI). We released the world’s first iOS app for visual search and worked with top publishing houses to make print media interactive. We opened an API for image recognition with a B2B Saas model (at a time when Saas was a really new idea). We found amazing customers using that API, for example, the world’s most successful wine app Vivino, which still uses the same platform today. The platform processed billions of visual search requests. In 2014, kooaba successfully exited Qualcomm and became part of the AR platform Vuforia. Looking back, we were very ambitious and helped shape a really early part of what is now at the intersection of AI and AR/VR. In addition, we innovated in early Mobile and API/Saas markets and managed to do one of the earlier Swiss exits to a US big-tech company", said Till.

"kooaba has achieved remarkable milestones, including serving as the wine label recognition engine for the leading wine app Vivino since its inception. We have transformed the technology from a modest demo app into the world's fastest and most accurate image recognition engine worldwide. kooaba's accomplishments also encompass the establishment of an extensive database featuring images from books, movies, wine labels, landmark buildings, and brand labels. kooaba's excellence was further underscored by its prominent presence at the prestigious Nokia yearly developer conference in London. Notably, its exceptional growth led to being acquired by Qualcomm as a valued customer," said Herbert.



Could you tell us how the Venturelab program helped you with kooaba?
"We were first-time founders, and we benefited from the various offerings of Venturelab at the time, like courses, being part of the cohort doing a roadshow in Boston (my co-founder Herbert did a lot of that in the early days), and affiliated programs such as the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award. These programs equipped us with skills and helped us to get visibility," said Till.

"I remember we were pretty new to all these things, from PhDs to entrepreneurs overnight. That's where the Venturelab program helped us dive into entrepreneurship's vocabulary and best practices. The instructors were very friendly and helped us a lot by introducing us to the right people. I also participated in the Venture Leaders 2007, which was an amazing experience," said Herbert.





 

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"I like summarizing my learnings with the 4Ts: Timing, Trust, Tenacity, and Team."

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What lessons have you learned from the journey with kooaba?
Timing for an idea matters (we were initially a little early, for example). Trust is essential within the team and with stakeholders (investors) and customers. Tenacity: there are so many ups and downs; tenacity is paramount. And, of course, the team is key to success," said Till. I left the acquiring company after a few years (our parent unit from Qualcomm joined PTC after two years, so in a way, we even went through a second acquisition). At that time, I moved on mainly because I was offered an amazing opportunity to work on a new project at Apple in Silicon Valley. I am still in touch with most former kooaba team members and made many new friends at Qualcomm," continued Till.

"I learned that we have to make sure to solve a real problem and never give up," said Herbert.

What would be your best advice to other founders just starting?
"Stay small as long as possible. Be ready to invest 5-10 years of your life in the project. This means you need to be passionate about it," said Till.

"Difficult question. Probably: Make sure you solve a real problem," said Herbert.

Are you currently involved in any new ventures or projects? If so, could you share what they entail and the goals you aim to achieve?
"Yes, in 2022, I co-founded the clean-tech startup Zerofy which helps households decarbonize (with carbon tracking and energy management for electrified households). From 2018-2020 I was VP of Product for the Swedish Mapping and Computer Vision Scaleup Mapillary, where I was initially also a seed investor. In 2020 Mapillary exited Facebook (Meta). In between, I had the pleasure of working in various roles at big-tech companies Qualcomm, Apple, and Meta in the US and Europe," said Till.

"Yes, in 2021, I co-founded Earkick. Our goal is to improve mental health globally using a smart companion (SwissGPT, we sometimes call it)," said Herbert.

Have you been investing or mentoring other startups? If yes, how has the experience been, and what motivates you to support emerging entrepreneurs?
"Yes, I have a handful of angel investments and have selectively been active as a board member and advisor. I like to help startups by sharing my experience from a mix of startups and big tech, and I get much joy out of working with entrepreneurs and learning about the latest new technologies, products, and market challenges," said Till.

After the exit, Herbert sailed around the world. To Venturelab, the sailing boat represents a symbol of teamwork and a valuable practice that teaches lessons on adapting to uncontrollable circumstances, such as sea conditions and wind, while optimizing the aspects within our control. Herbert, tell us more about this journey.
"Around 2015, my wife and I decided to exchange our stable home in Switzerland for a small sailing boat in order to sail around the world. As you can imagine, this was not an easy decision to make. Our children said goodbye to their friends, 95 percent of their toys, their cozy bedroom, and their familiar playground. My wife and I locked the doors to our home for the last time, hopped into the rental minivan that contained all our belongings, fetched the kids from daycare, and then drove to our boat – the "Maya" located in the south of France – to begin our once-in-a-lifetime journey," said Herbert.
"Since the day we set sail, I continued supporting the kooaba spinoff Shortcut on the boat. I have worked and communicated with the team – situated in different parts of the world, including Switzerland, Finland, Mauritius, and Portugal – while sailing, on anchor, or when in a marina. Not many entrepreneurs can say they raised a financing round for a startup company while on the open sea. Perhaps I'm one of the first? Through this whole process of sailing with my family and running a business at the same time, it occurred to me that there are indeed lessons from sailing that also apply to startups," continued Herbert.
(Find Herbert's article here).

"Yes, that’s really amazing! I believe that type of trip had been a dream of Herbert's for a while, and then he and his family really did it. That really impressed me," said Till. "When it comes to teamwork in general, I mentioned above that the team is essential to success. Looking back, Herbert and I made a pretty good founding team, in the sense that we were able to “navigate” (to use the sailing analogy) through various challenges together. (This is not always the case. As far as I know, stats show that challenging or unresolvable conflicts in founding teams are more frequent than one might assume)," said Till. “I can 1+ that. Till and I were an amazing team with complementary skills, and this mix was probably a great ingredient for our success," added Herbert.