Type Private Founded June 2015 | Website juneoven.com Motto Cook smarter, eat better Number of employees 30 | |
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Key people Matt Van Horn (Co-founder)Nikhil Bhogal (Co-founder) | ||
June is a home automation company based in San Francisco. Its first product is the June Intelligent Oven, a computer-based, Wi-Fi-enabled, app-connected countertop oven that employs machine learning and computer vision technologies to identify and cook food. The oven was created by “a team that brought the iPhone, the Fitbit, the GoPro, and Lyft to market.”
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History
June was founded by Matt Van Horn, CEO, and Nikhil Bhogal, CTO, and launched in June 2015. Van Horn co-founded Zimride, which spun off the ride-sharing service Lyft. Bhogal designed the camera software for the iPhone’s first five generations and is listed as an inventor on multiple Apple camera software patents. June team members have worked on the Apple Watch, GoPro cameras and Fitbit fitness trackers as well. Michelin-starred chef Michael Mina is an advisor to June.
Design
The oven is controlled by a click knob, 5-inch touch screen and connected app. Programmable and sensor-driven, the oven uses a built-in scale, core-temperature thermometer and a camera to suggest cooking time and temperature. The internal high-definition camera with a fisheye lens that is designed to recognize commonly cooked foods. The company claims the oven’s optical recognition can identify foods such as frozen pizza, bacon, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, and potatoes and can differentiate between different types of fish.
The Wall Street Journal said “the innovation found in the June Intelligent Oven is spectacular” and that “its technologies point the way to the future of cooking.”
Hardware
The June Oven has dual-surround convection fans, digital TRIAC controllers, a GPU processor, a 2.3-gigahertz NVIDIA chip, and carbon-fiber heating elements. Ammunition Design Group aided with the industrial design of the June Intelligent Oven and Quanta Computer aided in the manufacturing.
Software
The iOS app displays a live-stream video of the inside of the oven and then sends a notification when the food is done. The iOS app also has “smart recipes” that illustrate cooking steps with videos and GIFs and communicate with the oven.
Funding
June received $7 million in Series A funding from the Foundry Group, First Round Capital, Lerer Ventures, and Founders Fund.