Otter.ai raises $320 million to take its meeting assistant into big companies
The money comes from General Catalyst's growth fund in a deal that does not dilute Otter's shareholders, as rivals pile into AI note-taking.
Key points
- Otter.ai has raised $320 million from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund.
- The company says it now has 40 million users, up from 25 million a year ago.
- The money will go into enterprise growth and international expansion.
Otter.ai, the company behind one of the best-known AI meeting note-takers, has raised $320 million from General Catalyst’s growth fund. It plans to spend the money on selling to large companies, on marketing, on expanding abroad and on new products.
The capital comes from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund, which does not take an equity stake in the usual way. It earns its return from the results of the marketing it pays for, so existing shareholders are not diluted. Otter had raised $50 million in total before this, with its last round in 2021. It did not disclose a valuation.
“Voice is one of the biggest untapped opportunities in enterprise AI, and Otter is at the forefront of it,” said Pranav Singhvi, a partner and co-founder of the fund at General Catalyst.
Otter says it has 40 million users, up from 25 million last year, and it crossed $100 million in annual recurring revenue last year. It did not give newer revenue figures or say how many people use it each month.
The company is trying to move beyond transcribing calls. It is connecting its assistant to company systems so it can carry out work after a meeting, and it has added a search feature that works across apps. It is also testing briefs that give users background and past conversations before a meeting, and a “Live Assist” feature that answers questions while the meeting is going on.
Alex Gay, Otter’s new chief marketing officer, who joined from Superhuman, put the case plainly last month: “meetings are terribly inefficient,” he said, describing how the first part of many meetings goes on recapping the last one.
The field is crowded. Otter competes with Fireflies.ai, Granola, Read AI, Circleback and others, and with Superhuman, which bought the note-taker Fathom.