Curious about our startups?
Welcome to our blog series, ‘Meet a CoMotion Labs Member.’ These posts offer a peek into the groundbreaking work CoMotion Labs startups do and why they do it here. Stay tuned for profiles about startups innovating in Software, IT, Fintech (CoMotion Labs @ Startup Hall); Life Sciences, Biotech, Medtech (CoMotion Labs @ Fluke Hall); and AR, VR, Emerging Tech (CoMotion Labs @ HQ). They all work in one of our three physical locations across UW campus or participate via our virtual Lab in Spokane.
Meet Kloa
Members:
- Michael Murphy, Founder
- Anh Hua, UX Researcher
- Teddy Newell, iOS Developer
- Nestor Qin, iOS Developer Intern
- Marc Choi, Visual Communication Designer
- Alex White, Visual Cognition Researcher
- Yibo Cao, Algorithm Developer Intern
Where: CoMotion Labs @ Startup Hall
When: Joined in January 2019
Company: Kloa – the new way to type and send mobile messages. Kloa combines a 10-button tap interface, a neural network language model, and messaging capability in one. Big selection buttons and accurate word prediction make typing messages easy. Kloa makes obsolete existing messaging platforms that depend on legacy text input methods such as 26-button keyboards and voice.
What problem do you solve? The effort of typing mobile messages.
What’s the latest? Kloa was granted its first European patent this month! We’re excited to host three paid student interns from the UW Computer Science & Engineering department over the summer. Back in February, Kloa completed its first successful usability test, and the result shows that the Kloa tap interface is intuitive for new users. We’re thrilled!
Startup Advice: Leading a startup tests how fast you can learn. Here’s what we know so far:
- Course correct continuously to keep focus on the most valuable work.
- Skip all unnecessary work.
- Anticipate outcomes in order to conserve time and money.
- Shape the project so it’s an attractive opportunity for others to work on.
- Take one big risk (on your core value proposition). Try to minimize all other risks.
Why do you love CoMotion Labs?
CoMotion Labs provides a great environment for startups to solve problems and move a project forward. The University of Washington is a valuable association because it creates opportunities to recruit students with skills needed to help Kloa succeed. CoMotion also brings in informative speakers and holds events that lead to useful connections with experts that make a real difference. Learning from fellow startups is also a way to avoid mistakes and solve hard problems.
Get in touch with Kloa
Send an email to info@kloa.com
Want to incubate your startup here?
About CoMotion Labs: CoMotion Labs, a self-sustaining membership-supported program of UW CoMotion, provides a multi-industry labs system hosting 90+ startups inside and outside the UW community. This incubator supports startups with learning programs, mentoring, networking, and space — in three locations across the UW Seattle campus and a virtual lab in Spokane — across a variety of industries including Software, IT, Fintech (CoMotion Labs @ Startup Hall); Life Sciences, Biotech, Medtech (CoMotion Labs @ Fluke Hall); and AR, VR, Emerging Tech (CoMotion Labs @ HQ).