November 13, 2026
A startup company has launched a new application for iPhone called “Phota Labs,” which allows users to transform their daily photos into professional shots using artificial intelligence techniques, while preserving the features of people and the original character of documented moments.
The application relies on automating the image enhancement process instead of providing traditional editing tools, which enables users to obtain high-quality results without the need for prior experience or spending a long time in editing programs.
The startup was founded by Cecilia Zhang and Zach Xia, who previously met while working at Adobe, where they co-developed prominent computer photography applications such as Project Indigo, Lightroom, and Photoshop.
The idea of launching the application came after its founders noticed the inability of current tools to process images that lacked quality from the first moment they were taken, which prompted them to focus on improving the shot itself instead of just modifying its sub-details.
Photo Labs acts as a personal photography assistant, employing artificial intelligence to understand the content and context of photos, to provide suggestions that improve their relevance to professional work. The application offers multiple features, including converting wide-angle group photos into close-up personal photos, reprocessing “selfie” photos to appear as if they were taken by someone else, as well as providing various photography styles that range from simple adjustments to clear effects such as the “fisheye” effect and perspective adjustment.
The application features a special technology that ensures the preservation of the true identity and features of people during treatment and prevents their appearance from changing, a feature that the company considers superior to other generative artificial intelligence tools. The application also adds invisible watermarks to processed images to identify them as AI-edited images when shared via social media platforms.
In its first phase, the application targets photography enthusiasts and social media users, with future plans to expand its base to include families and the elderly seeking to document their memories in better quality. The company’s founders confirm that the purpose of the technology is to raise the level of real images, not to produce artificial images.
Financially, the company succeeded last year in raising initial financing worth $5.6 million, led by “a16z.” The application is currently available for free for iPhone users, with plans to adopt a business model that combines free and paid services, as well as developing a version specifically for Android devices in the future.
