Granola, a London-based AI-powered meeting notepad, has raised $20M (approximately €18.52M) in a Series A funding round led by Spark Capital.
The round also saw participation from AI Grant, Lightspeed, Betaworks, Firstminute Capital, and others.
According to Granola, most AI note-taking tools fall short by trying to replace human involvement with AI bots. The London-based company takes a different approach, believing that writing is an important part of thinking and that tools should support, not replace, that process.
Granola keeps the user in control by allowing them to take their own notes during meetings, with AI stepping in afterwards to enhance and improve those notes. This ensures the final notes reflect the user’s priorities and thoughts, rather than being entirely generated by AI.
The AI-powered notepad
Founded in 2023, Granola is an AI-powered notepad that helps users take better notes during meetings by combining manual input with AI assistance.
Users jot down important points, and the AI transcribes the meeting in the background. Afterwards, the AI improves and organises the notes, making them more useful. Granola creates a searchable and shareable archive of all meetings.
Its key features include customisable templates for different types of meetings, easy note sharing, and AI chat to explore details or create follow-up emails. It runs directly on the user’s computer without bots joining the call.
How was Granola born?
In early 2023, Christopher Pedregal and Sam Stephenson gathered a team of designers and engineers to create tools aimed at improving work life. They developed Granola and refined it through feedback from beta testers before launching in May 2024.
Their core message stressed the importance of valuing personal judgment over-reliance on AI, which resonated with many, including influential figures in Silicon Valley.
Granola claims it became popular among tech leaders, with over half of its users in leadership roles at companies like Vercel, Ramp, and Roblox. It is adopted in organisations, often starting with a senior leader and becoming an essential part of a team.
Since its launch, the number of weekly users has increased sixfold, and many users continue to utilise Granola for an average of six meetings per week. This early success has led to a new funding round aimed at enhancing Granola’s features.
Capital utilisation
Granola plans to expand the app beyond note-taking to provide insights into team conversations and automate post-meeting workflows.
It is also partnering with Nabeel at Spark Capital, whose experience with successful startups will support the company’s future development.
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