(Photo above: Lewis Howell, CEO and Founder and Ryan Palo, Lead Developer of Hueya | by Krystal Marie Collins)
Aiming to spotlight Central Oregon startups that are economic trend setters, this column searches out local businesses demonstrating innovations that have the potential to set industry standards outside our region. Delivering the premier personal security prevention software on the market constructed by experienced and dynamic coders, Hueya will soft launch their user-friendly product this month.
After reviewing the identity theft market Lewis Howell, founder and CEO of Hueya, found an interesting gap. Current service providers focused on reacting to crimes and not preventing them. “Hueya exists to fill this gap,” he explains, “by building tools to help proactively safeguard and secure personal and private information online. Our competitors are reactive. They need cyber crimes to occur. That is how they profit. Kind of curious…”
The ‘building tools’ part Howell references is lead developer, Ryan Palo. Well known for his abilities in the climbing community and athletic fields beyond, Palo has been accruing a diverse development portfolio as well.
Palo elaborates on internet safety saying, “Most folks don’t realize how vulnerable they are to cyber abuse. It only takes a few pieces of information to call a service, do a password reset or get through security questions. This happens with credit cards a lot.
Just think about all the internet services you currently have.”
Offering the example of a teenaged social media junkie constantly updating their location status, Palo notes the personal safety component of Hueya’s offerings. “An assessment can be accessed in five seconds. Our service will be continually scanning and updating you as new threats become apparent and a remediation process will be suggested.”
All this from an easy to use interface, similar to that of many smart phone applications.
Hueya’s industry clout could be measured on the full access they have earned from social channels and data providers like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. This means users need only swipe a switch to connect Hueya’s safeguard software and their networks.
Howell says among Hueya’s 70 beta clients are business professionals, families, individuals, parents, college students, people who are dating and others. He is excited to see who comes on board during their alpha soft launch this month but ultimately sees Hueya’s focus as business to consumer.
Feeling there is much opportunity for startups in Bend, Howell reflects, “Mentors and founders are accessible, infrastructure is sound, and you can’t beat the quality of life. With enough drive and passion and access to collaboration and communications tools, location is just where you choose to live. While we have a strong tech community, in today’s global world, you can start a thriving company anywhere.”
To address Central Oregon’s most frequently referenced drawback for tech startups, shortage of developers, Howell offers, “I believe developers are motivated by solving interesting problems in a great atmosphere. Hueya is solving an important problem and is driven by innovation, which makes it fun for developers.”
Palo and Howell concur that companies open to hiring remote developers will acquire the best engineers. Howell believes, “More and more developers will choose Bend, but we will always have remote workers. Creating a company that can support remote work is very important.”
“With the wide adoption of tools like Google Hangout and Slack the wall of working remotely has been brought down. Companies who close the door on remote developers are hamstringing themselves. The gap isn’t just about developers either, it is about finding multidisciplinary creative engineers who possess a blue sky skill set,” Palo explains.
Inspired by a former boss, Peter Ozolin (CEO & chair of Manzama), Palo elaborates about the archetype or renaissance person of software developers saying, “Ozolin used to say he wanted an engineer that had the mind of a scientist and the heart of an artist… I believe he was paraphrasing Steve Jobs. An inexperienced developer could hack together a project that is decent, but it takes a lot of experience to architect a product that a lot people will use.”
Long-term goals for Hueya include, “Our focus is on developing new and innovative tools to keep individuals and families safe online. By doing that, we will achieve success. In parallel, we plan to grow and scale this company in Central Oregon, invest in the tech community and help create an atmosphere of innovation and opportunity in the high desert.
There is no doubt, a tech boom is happening in Central Oregon. This is due to the investments and focus from Economic Development of Central Oregon, the Tech Alliance of Central Oregon, Tech Association of Oregon, companies like G5 Search Marketing, Inc., local investors, Oregon State University and COCC. Via these investments, we finally have an ecosystem (i.e. education, community, talent and quality of life) that can grow, support and sustain the developer and entrepreneurial community.”
Howell worked a nearly five year stint as vice president of IT for G5 before launching Hueya and enjoys family, Brazillian JiuJitsu, sailing and archery in his leisure time.
Company: Hueya, Inc.
Tag line: Securing your digital world
Founders, full names and titles: Lewis Howell, Founder and CEO
Contact info:
www.hueya.io
541-728-3260
1011 SW Emkay Dr., Ste. 101, Bend, OR 97702
Where did the company name come from?
The original name of the company was Digital Footprints which evolved into Hueya (who-ya). Hueya comes from the Spanish word Huella (Way-Ya) which means footprint. Changed around the spelling and the rest is history. Cool fact, in Argentina, they pronounce Hueya as ‘Way-Sha’ — super awesome.
When did you open your doors?
Beta phase, November 1, 2015. Alpha phase, August 2016.
What is your product/market niche?
Cyber security software focused on personal privacy and identity protection
What is your company’s number one goal in the next year?
Launching our product and enabling people to take control of their personal privacy.
What other ways is your company involved in the community?
We recently started a scholarship fund to support students who are entering the cyber security field. Our first scholarship will be awarded at the Portland Cyber Patriot Summer Camp. We are also excited to start working with local, state and national agencies on improving and updating privacy laws.
Employees: 3 full time employees
Outlook for growth: The market is very big and we look forward to getting our product in the hands of everyone online. However, we are starting small with a group of approximately 70 testers and plan to scale out very soon.
