scanR, a Palo Alto-based start-up that has built technology that allows consumers to use cameraphones to scan, copy and fax documents has raised about $4.65 million in funding. Expect an announcement tomorrow. Investors include Trinity Ventures, and Thomvest International. Don Listwin, former President and CEO of Openwave Systems, and James Joaquin, current CEO of Xoom.com and former CEO of Ofoto have also invested in the company.
Mobile phones with a camera have gone mainstream, and a lot of companies are working hard to create applications for these devices. Nearly 400 million phones with megapixel cameras will be sold in 2006. The new version of the software has been released by the company. Now you can click and capture whiteboard scribles and turn them into PDF files. Only last week, there was word about Six Apart, a San Francisco-based web publishing company snapped up Splash Data for an undisclosed amount of money. Expect more action around camera-phones in coming months.
This is old stuff with really no future in becoming a product that will be used by the masses. The ecosystem to support it is not there. I am still amazed
how companies get funded for old ideas and products that have no future. I do take my hat off at the guys who gave the pitch! The know how to sell!!
right on luis. i wish i could sell that well.
not sure how big this market is going to be, but well, i applaud these guys for trying.
especially when you get other people’s money
Actually, this seems pretty useful and innovative to me. As a sales rep who travels a ton, I love the fax, copy and scan functionality. Who wants to go down to the hotel business center late at night to fax a doc with a signature out? And pay $5/page nonetheless!
I just want to clarify that there is no application download needed for people to use scanR with their mobile phones or cameras. Pictures can be sent directly from phones as email or MMS attachments.
Also, scanning whiteboards and documents is only the beginning. The goal is to help people organize, search and share information that was previously locked in paper, which is still the vast majority of personal information.
–Chris from scanR
Chris,
Do you guys use server side OCR for the search function?
Also, does the fact most camera phones (even the newer megapixel ) in the US suck, make a difference?