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TechCrunch
18 hours ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
Wispr Flow raises $30M from Menlo Ventures for its AI-powered dictation app
Startups developing voice AI technology and applications are having their moment. Model builders like ElevenLabs and Cartesia have raised millions of dollars in the last few months. Applications such as AI-powered notetaker Granola, and meeting tools Read AI and Fireflies AI have also received investor attention and backing. Continuing the trend, dictation app Wispr Flow announced today that it is raising $30 million in Series A funding from Menlo Ventures with participation from NEA, 8VC, Opal CEO Kenneth Schlenker, Pinterest Founder Evan Sharp, Carta CEO Henry Ward, and Lindy CEO Flo Crivelli. Menlo's Matt Kraning, who also backed the company as an angel investor, will join its board. To date, the company has raised $56 million. The startup's founder and CEO, Tanay Kothari, started building Wispr to create a device that would allow users to type just by mouthing words silently. Its prior funding was for that business. Last year, the company instead started focusing on Wispr Flow, the software interface designed for the hardware device. The company released a Mac app in October 2024, followed by a Windows app in March 2025, and an iOS app earlier this month. Kothari mentioned that, since its early release, VCs in Silicon Valley have been using the product. 'I think every single tier one venture fund in the valley uses Wispr Flow for their emails, memos, documents, and more. They feel themselves being hooked on it, and it is one of the products they use every day. Because of this, we started getting a lot of inbound,' Kothari said about investor interest. Notably, Granola also had a similar story of receiving immense investor interest because VCs used their product a lot. Startup's CEO Tanay Kothari Image Credits: WisPr Flow Kothari also noted that the startup will soon achieve profitability at the current rate of growth, and initially, he didn't want to raise money. However, he worried that big tech players with a massive distribution advantage could be a risk to the company. He wanted to multiply the company's revenue and reach rapidly, and decided to take the investment. Kraning, who has been an avid user of the app, said that his initial thesis for Wispr Flow was that with the current set of input methods, like keyboards, we are 'waiting for our thumbs to catch up with our thoughts.' 'Wispr Flow is creating an efficient way to translate digital thoughts and intent. The app captures users' speech and what they want to convey very well. The team has thought about how people speak while developing models rather than focusing on things like word error rates,' he told TechCrunch. User growth and future roadmap The startup said that the app has been growing its user base by 50% month-over-month. Kothari noted that 40% of users of the app are in the U.S., 30% in Europe, and 30% in other parts of the world. In addition, more than 30% of the app's users are from a non-technical background. 'More and more people are using AI tools, but still, there isn't a good interface for people who are not techies. ChatGPT-style interface is the most common one, and that was released three and a half years ago. We are building for all kinds of users so they don't have to write system prompts to interface with AI,' Kothari said. At the moment, Wispr Flow supports dictation in 104 languages. Kothari said that 40% of dications are in English, and 60% of them are in the rest of the languages, with Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Hindi, and Mandarin being the top languages. The company will use the funding to grow its team of 18 with roles in engineering and go-to-market. It will also release an Android app and cater to Enterprise users by setting up company-wide phrase context and support teams. The startup is working on building Flow into a product that is akin to an AI-powered assistant that knows more about your personal context and helps you do everyday tasks like send messages, take notes, and set reminders. Plus, the company said it's working with some AI hardware partners, without naming them, to power the interaction layer.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wispr Flow releases iOS app in a bid to make dictation feel effortless
It feels like AI companies want us all to talk to their products out loud more often. Meta, Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic, to name a few, have added functionality to let users talk with their AI bots as naturally as they would with another person, taking advantage of advances in speech-to-text technology. A startup called Wispr Flow feels it can outdo the bigwigs, though, with its dictation tech that supports more than 100 languages. The company today augmented its existing Windows and Mac apps with a new iOS app that doubles as a keyboard, letting you use your voice to type inside any app. Now, you might be thinking this is just another speech-to-text company, but this reporter came away particularly impressed with Wispr Flow. As an Indian, I've never found a speech-to-text app that can fully understand what I am saying. I have also had a hard time getting AI assistants like Alexa and Siri to execute requests. However, Wispr Flow presented a vastly better experience compared to any dictation tech I've used from Big Tech. At first, I had to edit my sentences across the Wispr Flow desktop and mobile apps, but after using it a few times, the dictation experience improved drastically. I ended up using the app to write long emails and messages, and even wrote much of this story using just my voice. The app also has a numeric and symbol keyboard if you need to type special characters, and it learns custom names and terms automatically, or you can add them through its dictionary section. It also lets you whisper into your mic if you want to use it in environments where you can't speak out loud. The company claims that the iOS app can work in environments with poor network coverage as well. The startup's co-founder, Tanay Kothari, told TechCrunch he set out to build a wearable device that would allow users to type just by mouthing words silently. The operating layer of that wearable was Flow, and last July, the company pivoted to focus on the software and released its Mac app a few months later. On the desktop app, users can start dictating in any app by pressing a hotkey, which is easier to access. For the iOS app, the challenge will be to persuade users to switch to Wispr's keyboard every time they want to use the app. Wispr Flow is free to use until you hit a limit of 2,000 words per week. There's an unlimited plan for $12 per month (or $144 per year) that also gives you early access to new features. The company has raised $26 million to date from investors including NEA, Palo Alto Networks, and 8VC. Kothari said his subscription business is seeing a conversion rate of 19%, and the startup's revenue is increasing by 60% year-on-year. The startup is working on releasing an Android app this year. It's also building shared context functionality for teams so that the app can understand common terminology within enterprise contexts. Wispr has many competitors, including YC-backed Aqua, TalkTastic, Superwhisper, and BetterDictation. While Kothari expects more competition in this space with advances in AI and voice technology, he believes that Wispr's engineering team and long-term investment in the tech will set it apart. This article originally appeared on TechCrunch at Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Wispr Flow releases iOS app in a bid to make dictation feel effortless
It feels like AI companies want us all to talk to their products out loud more often. Meta, Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic, to name a few, have added functionality to let users talk with their AI bots as naturally as they would with another person, taking advantage of advances in speech-to-text technology. A startup called Wispr Flow feels it can outdo the bigwigs, though, with its dictation tech that supports more than 100 languages. The company today augmented its existing Windows and Mac apps with a new iOS app that doubles as a keyboard, letting you use your voice to type inside any app. Now, you might be thinking this is just another speech-to-text company, but this reporter came away particularly impressed with Wispr Flow. As an Indian, I've never found a speech-to-text app that can fully understand what I am saying. I have also had a hard time getting AI assistants like Alexa and Siri to execute requests. However, Wispr Flow presented a vastly better experience compared to any dictation tech I've used from Big Tech. At first, I had to edit my sentences across the Wispr Flow desktop and mobile apps, but after using it a few times, the dictation experience improved drastically. I ended up using the app to write long emails and messages, and even wrote much of this story using just my voice. The app also has a numeric and symbol keyboard if you need to type special characters, and it learns custom names and terms automatically, or you can add them through its dictionary section. It also lets you whisper into your mic if you want to use it in environments where you can't speak out loud. The company claims that the iOS app can work in environments with poor network coverage as well. The startup's co-founder, Tanay Kothari, told TechCrunch he set out to build a wearable device that would allow users to type just by mouthing words silently. The operating layer of that wearable was Flow, and last July, the company pivoted to focus on the software and released its Mac app a few months later. On the desktop app, users can start dictating in any app by pressing a hotkey, which is easier to access. For the iOS app, the challenge will be to persuade users to switch to Wispr's keyboard every time they want to use the app. Wispr Flow is free to use until you hit a limit of 2,000 words per week. There's an unlimited plan for $12 per month (or $144 per year) that also gives you early access to new features. The company has raised $26 million to date from investors including NEA, Palo Alto Networks, and 8VC. Kothari said his subscription business is seeing a conversion rate of 19%, and the startup's revenue is increasing by 60% year-on-year. The startup is working on releasing an Android app this year. It's also building shared context functionality for teams so that the app can understand common terminology within enterprise contexts. Wispr has many competitors, including YC-backed Aqua, TalkTastic, Superwhisper, and BetterDictation. While Kothari expects more competition in this space with advances in AI and voice technology, he believes that Wispr's engineering team and long-term investment in the tech will set it apart. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
TechCrunch
03-06-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Wispr Flow releases iOS app in a bid to make dictation feel effortless
It feels like AI companies want us all to talk to their products out loud more often. Meta, Google, OpenAI and Anthropic, to name a few, have added functionality to let users talk with their AI bots as naturally as they would with another person, taking advantage of advances in speech-to-text technology. A startup called Wispr Flow feels it can outdo the bigwigs, though, with its dictation tech that supports more than 100 languages. The company today augmented its existing Windows and Mac apps with a new iOS app that doubles as a keyboard, letting you use your voice to type inside any app. Now, you might be thinking this is just another speech-to-text company, but this reporter came away particularly impressed with Wispr Flow. As an Indian, I've never found a speech-to-text app that can fully understand what I am saying. I have also had a hard time getting AI assistants like Alexa and Siri to execute requests. However, Wispr Flow presented a vastly better experience compared to any dictation tech I've used from Big Tech. At first, I had to edit my sentences across the Wispr Flow desktop and mobile apps, but after using it a few times, the dictation experience improved drastically. I ended up using the app to write long emails and messages, and even wrote much of this story using just my voice. The app also has a numeric and symbol keyboard if you need to type special characters, and it learns custom names and terms automatically, or you can add them through its dictionary section. It also lets you whisper into your mic if you want to use it in environments where you can't speak out loud. The company claims that the iOS app can work in environments with poor network coverage as well. The startup's co-founder, Tanay Kothari, told TechCrunch he set out to build a wearable device that would allow users to type just by mouthing words silently. The operating layer of that wearable was Flow, and last July, the company pivoted to focus on the software and released its Mac app a few months later. On the desktop app, users can start dictating in any app by pressing a hotkey, which is easier to access. For the iOS app, the challenge will be to persuade users to switch to Wispr's keyboard every time they want to use the app. Techcrunch event Save now through June 4 for TechCrunch Sessions: AI Save $300 on your ticket to TC Sessions: AI—and get 50% off a second. Hear from leaders at OpenAI, Anthropic, Khosla Ventures, and more during a full day of expert insights, hands-on workshops, and high-impact networking. These low-rate deals disappear when the doors open on June 5. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | REGISTER NOW Wispr Flow is free to use until you hit a limit of 2,000 words per week. There's an unlimited plan for $12 per month (or $144 per year) that also gives you early access to new features. The company has raised $26 million to date from investors including NEA, Palo Alto Networks and 8VC. Kothari said his subscription business is seeing a conversion rate of 19%, and the startup's revenue is increasing by 60% year-on-year. The startup is working on releasing an Android app this year. It's also building shared context functionality for teams so that the app can understand common terminology within enterprise contexts. Wispr has many competitors, including YC-backed Aqua, Talktastic, Superwhisper and Betterdication. While Kothari expects more competition in this space with advances in AI and voice technology, he believes that Wispr's engineering team and long-term investment in the tech will set it apart.
