WhoOwnsIt

Landing Page
Stock Information Page

Inspiration

We wanted to make financial literacy feel immediate and personal. Most people interact with public companies every day through snacks, clothes, phones, and household products, but they rarely know who actually owns those brands. WhoOwnsIt turns everyday objects into an entry point for understanding markets.

What it does

WhoOwnsIt lets users upload or scan a product image, identifies the brand, traces the corporate ownership chain, and shows the ultimate parent company. If that parent is a U.S.-listed public company, the app shows stock data, a one-year chart, and a calculator showing what monthly investing in that company could have returned.

How we built it

We built the frontend with React and Vite, using a simple scan-to-result flow. The backend uses Express and calls Gemini to identify products and reason through ownership. Financial Modeling Prep provides company and stock data, while cached mock data keeps the demo reliable. The DCA calculator uses a shared formula on both client and server so slider updates can happen instantly.

Challenges we ran into

The hardest part was handling ownership correctly. Products can be licensed, privately owned, foreign-owned, or part of complex parent-company structures. We also had to keep the app reliable when APIs or keys were unavailable, so mock mode and caching became important parts of the architecture.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of turning a product photo into a full ownership and investing story. The project connects computer vision, company research, financial data, and a clean user experience into one simple flow. We are also proud that it handles non-public and foreign companies honestly instead of forcing every product into a stock chart.

What we learned

We learned how important clear API contracts are when frontend and backend work happen in parallel. We also learned that financial apps need careful edge-case handling, especially around ticker validation, corporate ownership, and investment disclaimers. Most of all, we learned that everyday objects can be a surprisingly powerful way to explain markets.

What's next for WhoOwnsIt

Next, we want to polish the result screens, improve the ownership visuals, expand demo coverage, and strengthen the product-identification prompts. We also want to add more educational context so users understand not just who owns a product, but how that company fits into the larger market.