Hustler Words – Granola, the AI-powered note-taking app, has secured a substantial $43 million in Series B funding, valuing the company at $250 million. This follows a year of impressive organic growth fueled by word-of-mouth referrals within the VC and founder communities, and a surprising expansion beyond its initial focus on automated meeting transcription. The funding round, led by NFDG (Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross’s venture firm), also saw participation from Lightspeed, Spark, and prominent angel investors including Guillermo Rauch (Vercel), Amjad Masad (Replit), Tobi Lutke (Shopify), and Karri Saarinen (Linear). This brings Granola’s total funding to $67 million.
Co-founder Chris Pedragel attributes Granola’s success to its expanding user base, which has grown 10% weekly since launch. Users are increasingly leveraging the app for personal note-taking, feeding the AI with a broader range of information for deeper insights. Pedragel describes Granola as becoming a central hub for users’ daily information needs, a place where they "live" throughout the workday.
This latest funding round coincides with the launch of Granola’s new collaborative features. The app now allows users to share transcripts and notes with teammates, enabling the AI to analyze a larger dataset and surface more comprehensive insights. Custom folders for various business use cases (sales calls, customer feedback, hiring) are also available. Furthermore, users can share notes with colleagues who don’t use Granola, allowing them to interact with the AI directly.
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While other apps like Read AI, Fireflies, and Otter offer similar collaborative features, Pedragel highlights Granola’s unique emphasis on user control and personalized note editing. He emphasizes that Granola is not just a meeting transcription tool, but a dynamic workspace for ongoing collaboration and knowledge management. Recent updates allow users to query the AI about specific meetings and now, individual folders, enhancing the app’s utility.
This move towards collaboration reflects a broader trend in the AI-powered note-taking space, with many companies expanding their functionality and integrations to become central knowledge hubs. Notably, even established productivity suites like Notion are incorporating similar AI-powered meeting note-taking features. Lightspeed’s Mike Mignano believes Granola’s strong user experience and unique blend of AI and human control give it a significant advantage in this competitive market, setting the stage for strong network effects.
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