AI note-taking app Granola raises $43M at $250M valuation, launches collaborative features

AI-powered note-taking instrumentality Granola has been connected a roll. The startup’s seen a steep uptick successful usage since it launched a twelvemonth ago, mostly acknowledgment to connection of rima among VCs and founders, but a large operator seems to beryllium the information that radical are utilizing it for doing much than its halfway transportation — automated note-taking for meetings.

Granola’s co-founder, Chris Pedragel, told TechCrunch that the company’s users are progressively utilizing Granola for taking idiosyncratic notes, which helps them marque each their information, some from enactment and otherwise, disposable to the app’s AI to parse and aboveground insights from. “[People] person Granola unfastened each time due to the fact that they person a batch of meetings, so it’s similar […] wherever they’re starting to live,” helium said.

Pedragel said Granola’s integrated popularity among the tech assemblage and diversifying use-cases has helped its idiosyncratic basal turn 10% each week since its launch, though helium didn’t specify however galore users it presently has.

Off the backmost of that accelerated maturation and popularity, Granola connected Wednesday said it has raised $43 cardinal successful a Series B backing circular led by Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross’s task firm, NFDG, astatine a valuation of $250 million.

The circular besides saw information from existing investors Lightspeed and Spark, arsenic good arsenic angel investors including Vercel’s Guillermo Rauch, Replit’s Amjad Masad, Shopify’s Tobi Lutke, and Linear’s Karri Saarinen. The circular brings the company’s full backing raised to $67 million.

Image Credits: Granola

Alongside this funding, Granola is besides extending its remit beyond its existent single-user absorption to marque itself much utile for businesses: It’s launching a caller collaboration diagnostic that lets users stock transcripts and notes with teammates, and alteration the app’s AI instrumentality to vantage of a broader excavation of notes and details to aboveground insights.

Users successful an enactment tin make customized folders for assorted collaborative usage cases similar income calls, lawsuit feedback and hiring. The app volition besides fto users stock gathering notes with radical who don’t usage Granola to fto them chat with its AI and inquire it questions.

Other gathering transcription and note-taking apps, specified arsenic Read AI, Fireflies and Otter, already connection akin shared abstraction features. Pedregal, though, says Granola is for much than note-taking. “I deliberation however Granola differs from different notetakers is that it is precise idiosyncratic and you are successful power each the time. You tin edit notes astatine immoderate point. It is not astir conscionable capturing a meeting, but it is simply a abstraction wherever you tin work, adjacent station meetings,” helium said.

Earlier this month, Granola updated its app to alteration users to ask the AI bot questions astir each meetings it had recorded. Building connected that, the institution volition present let users to inquire questions astir circumstantial folders arsenic well.

Image Credits: Granola

Granola’s caller collaborative absorption is portion of a broader inclination — galore AI-powered gathering transcription and note-taking tools are expanding their absorption and building integrations with different tools arsenic they effort to go a hub that stores and lets users hunt done cognition from assorted sources.

Meanwhile, productivity suites are introducing transcription tools to support customers from having to usage different apps for that purpose. For instance, Notion conscionable yesterday launched an AI gathering note-taking tool.

Lightspeed’s Mike Mignano believes that Granola has an borderline successful this abstraction due to the fact that of its interface and idiosyncratic experience.

“Since the start, the institution has had the close premix of AI transcript and quality power of taking notes. Now that they are gathering discourse crossed the meetings and making the notes shareable, the merchandise has go stronger. With these features, Granola volition person semipermanent discourse for users and teams, kicking disconnected web effects for the startup,” helium said.