By Nicarlyle Hanchard / The Jambar
Youngstown State University finance major, Ahoora Khakinahad, is the co-founder of the tech startup, Havenbridge Technologies.
An Iranian international student, Khakinahad co-founded the company with Reza Paravasi during his first year in the United States.
“When I moved to the U.S., we found each other through a mutual friend and we had this idea of an [artificial intelligence] robotic arm that could be used as an assistive device, especially for addressing individuals with disabilities,” Khakinahad said.
As the invention’s idea was born out of necessity, Khakinahad said he was moved by his older brother’s disability to undertake this venture.
“Initially it was to be assistive, to be used in health care systems,” Khakinahad said. “Then we figured out it could have a broader [impact] in many different industries including home assistance — food preparation, even in factories.”
Khakinahad said he believes AI will make the arm more precise when compared to traditional robotic arms. Though parts are expensive, Khakinahad said the company is focused on making the arms cost-effective.
“Our main focus is to produce these robotic arms as affordable as possible, because we know for too many other humanoid robotics, they’re not as affordable,” Khakinahad said. “We’re addressing a social problem [while building] a sustainable business.”
As a sophomore and student employee on campus, Khakinahad said it is hard balancing assignments with business meetings and research.
“It’s quite tough. We’re meeting almost every day, and we’re looking at different things and doing market research,” Khakinahad said. “It requires a lot of dedication and perseverance to push through that.”
Havenbridge Technologies has partnered with Amazon Web Service Startups, Google Cloud Growth program and Microsoft for Startups. These companies provide startups with the technology and assistance to be ready for market. Khakinahad said the collaboration has been a great experience.
“[When] we were working on this project, we started looking into those programs and [were successful],” Khakinahad said. “This allowed us to use their [annual percentage rate] credit and software to manage our projects which is quite nice.”
Though the main focus is the device’s affordability, Khankinahad said they are currently seeking funding to construct their first prototype.
“Our first goal is to get this funded as soon as possible and build the prototype, so we can introduce it to other angel investors and move on with that,” Khakinahad said.
Khakinahad will participate in the Shark Tank competition March 20, hosted by the Williamson College of Business Administration.
