Phota Labs uses AI to improve everyday photos while preserving identity

Founded by Cecilia Zhang and Zach Xia, Phota Labs is backed by a16z. The founders met at Adobe, where they worked on computational photography products including Project Indigo, Lightroom and Photoshop. They saw a gap in existing editing tools: those can enhance an image, they said, but are less able to repair a shot that was poorly captured.

The app can, for example, turn a wide-angle group photo into a tighter portrait or rework a selfie into a more conventional shot. Users can select styles ranging from subtle adjustments that retain the original lens and composition to more dramatic changes, such as fisheye effects, new angles and different perspectives.

Zhang told TechCrunch that Phota is designed as a proactive personal photo assistant, one that can interpret what is happening in a user’s camera roll and produce a stronger version of a scene. She said the company developed its own personalization technology to learn people’s identities and preserve them through transformations. Images edited with the app also carry invisible watermarks identifying them as AI-altered when shared on social platforms.

The startup is initially aimed at people who take many photos and share them online but do not want to spend time editing. The founders say they hope eventually to reach groups including retirees making pictures for grandchildren and parents assembling family albums. Xia said beta users valued seeing improved versions of real memories, and the company found that some took more photos knowing they could be enhanced later.

Phota Labs raised a $5.6 million seed round led by a16z last year. The app is launching for free as the company builds an initial user base, with a freemium model under consideration. An Android app is also planned for the future.