Acciyo, a female-founded startup based in Los Angeles, just launched its first product to the public. The chrome extension uses machine learning to populate a relevant timeline of stories related to the topic you are reading—helping readers better understand the news.

Acciyo’s chrome plug-in gives readers context and catches them up on what they missed. The chrome plug-in creates a timeline on the side of your screen that you are able to scroll and click through. The interactive feature shows you other articles and quick summaries on key people and places.

“The work we’re doing sounds simple in nature, but is truly unprecedented,” says Vivian Diep, co-founder and CTO. “Our algorithm comes from years of fine-tuning and learning what it takes to dive deeper on a topic.”

Oftentimes in today’s 24-hour news cycle, it’s hard to keep up with a story. Acciyo makes it easier to stay informed on the issues you care about without having to constantly be checking your phone or keeping tabs on stories. Acciyo’s machine-learning does all that work for you.

“We want anyone, anywhere, to be able to open a news article and have the tools they need to understand what’s happening in the world,” says Anum Hussain, co-founder and CEO. “Only then can we actually say we’re ‘informed.’”

Acciyo was founded by two MIT graduates, Anum Hussain and Vivian Diep. The two women have backgrounds in journalism and computer science; and experience in product marketing and design. The root of the name, accio, means "to summon" or "to fetch" in Latin. For those of you who recognize it as the popular Harry Potter spell - yes, that is the actual inspiration for the name. Their mission is to transform reading the news from a survivalist exercise into a rich, motivating experience.