Jewel Burks

Updated: Partpic was acquired by Amazon in 2HCY16.-Ed.

PARTPIC, the platform for online visual search of replacement parts, is all about supplier ties, revenue growth and key hires, now that the startup has won three major pitches in a row and raised just over $1.5MM, Founder-CEO Jewel Burks told VNC today.

The Atlanta based company, which won the recent LaunchTN 36:86 pitch contest, netting $36K in prize money, is likely to pursue Series A capital within 9 to 12 months.

Represented by 26-year-old Burks, Partpic earlier this year won the Rise of the Rest pitch contest, netting $100K, and went on to win the 36:86 prize and, last weekend, a $25K pitch prize conducted by PowerMoves New Orleans, sponsored by JP Morgan.

Partpic has not set a target for the Series A, said Burks, who was reared in Nashville, attended Metro/Nashville Public Schools (including the Hume-Fogg magnet) and then earned her marketing degree at famed Howard University, in Washington, D.C. Her mother resides in Hermitage.

The company's professional advisors include attorneys with Foley & Lardner, and it banks with Silicon Valley Bank. It's got a shortlist of possible accounting firms, she said.

Partpic's technology allows users to submit images of parts for which replacements are needed, then match and order needed items via a mobile application.

Partpic has revenue and has five full-time employees, one part-timer and three paid interns, she said. The company was conceived in January 2013 and chartered in August that year. The company asserts its is "the only company" with a solution that can "extract key [parts] features and measurements from a 2-D image."

The company targets industrial suppliers and distributors, as well as other manufacturers, distributors and retailers that use contextual search to find products on their websites or mobile applications. Its fees are derived from licensing of its solution on a pay/search basis, according to company materials provided.

According to CrunchBase, its earlier Seed investors include ARC Angel Fund, the Chattanooga-based JumpFund, SeedInvest and NYC SeedStart, among others.

Burks has previously worked and/or interned with Google, Goldman Sachs and Affinion Marketing Group.

Her co-founder is Jason Crain, COO. Crain also previously worked at Google, among other stops, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The company's outside advisors include Kevin Rabsatt, a senior engineer with Google; Joy Randels, whose LinkedIn profile says she heads New Market Partners, a Tampa/St. Pete-based accelerator; Jeanne Sullivan, co-founder of NYC-based StarVest Partners; and, Brian Shields, whose Linkedin says he is associated with San Francisco-based FundingCircle and that he was co-founder of IncubateNYC and worked several years with Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe.

Partpic direct and indirect competitors include Camfind, Clarifai and Blippar, said Burks, who expressed competitive confidence in Partpic's platform technology and its team. VNC