Otter.ai, the AI app that takes meeting notes, raised $320 million without giving up ownership, in a market with many cheaper rivals worth testing.
Otter.ai, the app that records meetings and writes up the notes, said on Tuesday that it has raised $320 million. The money comes from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund. Otter does not give up ownership shares to get it. The company says it will spend the money on growth with big business customers, sales and marketing strategy, expansion abroad, and new features.
The Customer Value Fund provides money without diluting equity. That means the startup's existing owners keep their share of the company. The fund gets its return based on the results of the marketing spend it backs. Before this deal, Otter had raised $50 million in total, with its last round in 2021, according to PitchBook data.
Otter crossed $100 million in annual recurring revenue last year. That is yearly income from subscriptions. The company says it is approaching new milestones but gave no updated figures. It also says 40 million people have used the product to date, up from 25 million a year ago.
What Otter did not share matters just as much. It gave no numbers on monthly active users or churn, which is the rate at which customers leave. In a crowded field, keeping customers is the harder test.
Otter has many rivals. Well-funded ones include Fireflies.ai, Granola and Read AI. Newer entrants include Calendly, Wispr and Superhuman, which acquired Fathom. Smaller tools include Circleback, Talat and Quill.
Most of these tools want to plug into business systems and use what is said in meetings to automate work. Otter is heading that way too. In recent years it added a meeting assistant, a search that works across apps, and links to other AI tools.
Otter's new chief marketing officer, Alex Gay, who came from Superhuman, says the target is people stuck in back-to-back meetings. He pointed to the first 20 minutes of many meetings, spent recapping earlier talks. Otter is testing a prebrief that sends background from past conversations before a meeting. It is also trying Live Assist, which lets users ask the AI questions during a meeting.
If your team is shopping for a note-taker, try a few before committing. Many are easy to test. Also check how each one connects to your CRM, the software where you keep customer records, since that link is where these tools are headed.
Meeting note tools are multiplying, so test a few and check how each connects to your customer records before you commit.
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