Otter.ai builds AI meeting assistants for professionals, students, and teams that turn spoken conversations into searchable notes and summaries. Its meeting assistant joins calls on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet, capturing what people say and organizing decisions and action items for later review. Users follow live transcripts, identify speakers, and share recordings with colleagues, while mobile apps also record lectures and in-person discussions. The company sells subscriptions for individuals and business teams, with a free entry plan and enterprise contracts that add administrative controls. Otter.ai was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.
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Otter.ai raises $320 million from General Catalyst for meeting tool. 2026-10-20 04:03:29 Key takeaways. * Otter.ai raised $320 million from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund on Tuesday, a non-dilutive financing vehicle based on marketing spend performance. * Otter.ai reported 40 million total users and crossed $100 million in annual recurring revenue last year. * Otter.ai will deploy funding toward enterprise growth, international expansion, and testing pre-brief and Live Assist meeting features. Otter.ai announced on Tuesday that it has raised $320 million from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund (CVF), a non-dilutive financing vehicle that provides capital tied to marketing spend returns. The meeting note-taking startup will use the funds for enterprise growth, go-to-market strategy, international expansion, and product innovation. The funding comes as Otter.ai operates in an increasingly crowded market of AI-powered meeting assistants, with competitors including Fireflies.ai, Granola, Read AI, and recent entrants like Calendly and Superhuman. Otter.ai secures $320 million from General Catalyst CVF. Otter.ai raised $320 million from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund, which provides capital to startups without diluting equity and generates returns based on marketing spend results. The startup, operational for nearly a decade, had previously raised $50 million in total funding with its last round in 2021, according to PitchBook data. Pranav Singhvi, Partner and Co-founder of CVF at General Catalyst, stated: "Voice is one of the biggest untapped opportunities in enterprise AI, and Otter is at the forefront of it - a conviction that's only deepened watching Otter's growth. When Otter enables enterprises to capture critical voice data and turns it into actionable business insights, teams move faster, decisions get sharper, and productivity compounds across the organization, and that's why it's a strong partner for CVF." Company reports 40 million total users and $100 million ARR milestone. Otter.ai reported that 40 million users have used its product to date, up from 25 million last year. Last year, the company crossed $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). The company stated it is now approaching new milestones but did not provide updated figures. The startup also did not disclose numbers around monthly active users or churn rates. Otter.ai plans enterprise expansion and product innovation. The company will deploy the $320 million toward enterprise growth, go-to-market strategy, international expansion, and product innovation. In recent years, Otter.ai introduced a meeting assistant, a search function that works across apps, and integration with other AI tools. Meeting note-taking market features multiple competitors. The meeting note-taking space includes well-funded competitors such as Fireflies.ai, Granola, and Read AI, along with new entrants like Calendly, Wispr, and Superhuman, which acquired Fathom. Other players in the market include Circleback, Talat, and Quill. Most of these platforms aim to connect to enterprise systems and automate workflows based on data captured in meetings. Otter.ai tests pre-brief and Live Assist features. Otter.ai is experimenting with providing insights before, after, and during meetings. The company has been testing a feature to send a pre-brief to users with details and background information, with context from previous conversations across surfaces. Alex Gay, Otter's newly appointed CMO who comes from Superhuman, told TechCrunch at the HumanX conference last month: "When we start thinking about what is actually the bigger problem that people are facing right now, we saw this large pain point in meeting-heavy roles, where people are back-to-back in conversations. These meetings are the work for them. That's either customer conversations or, from a sales standpoint. That's where strategies are discussed. But meetings are terribly inefficient because when you come into a meeting, you spend the first twenty minutes recapping what was said before to catch everybody up." The company is also testing a Live Assist feature to let users ask questions to the AI assistant during meetings to get knowledge. Faq. What funding did Otter.ai announce on Tuesday? Otter.ai announced on Tuesday that it raised $320 million from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund (CVF), a non-dilutive financing vehicle that provides capital tied to marketing spend returns. How many users has Otter.ai reported? Otter.ai reported that 40 million users have used its product to date, up from 25 million last year. The company crossed $100 million in annual recurring revenue last year. What new features is Otter.ai testing? Otter.ai is testing a pre-brief feature to send users details and background information with context from previous conversations, and a Live Assist feature that lets users ask questions to the AI assistant during meetings. Disclaimer: The information on this page may come from third-party sources and is for reference only. It does not represent the views or opinions of Gate and does not constitute any financial, investment, or legal advice. Virtual asset trading involves high risk. 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Otter.ai raises $320 million from General Catalyst s growth fund for its meeting tool. Meeting note-taking tool Otter.ai announced on Tuesday that it has raised $320 million from General Catalyst s Customer Value Fund (CVF), which provid Meeting note-taking tool Otter.ai announced on Tuesday that it has raised $320 million from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund (CVF), which provides capital to startups without diluting equity and gets returns on the results of marketing spend. Otter.ai said that it will use these funds for enterprise growth, go-to-market strategy, international expansion, and product innovation. The startup, which has been around for nearly a decade, has raised $50 million in total funding with its last round in 2021, according to PitchBook data. Last year, Otter hit a revenue milestone after crossing $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). The company said it's now approaching new milestones, but didn't provide updated figures. The company said that 40 million users have used its product to date, up from 25 million last year. However, given the crowded space among meeting note-taking products, a pertinent challenge for Otter would be to have its customers stick around. Unfortunately, the startup didn't provide any numbers around its monthly active users or churn. "Voice is one of the biggest untapped opportunities in enterprise AI, and Otter is at the forefront of it - a conviction that's only deepened watching Otter's growth," said Pranav Singhvi, Partner and Co-founder of CVF, General Catalyst. "When Otter enables enterprises to capture critical voice data and turns it into actionable business insights, teams move faster, decisions get sharper, and productivity compounds across the organization, and that's why it's a strong partner for CVF." There is a lot of competition in the market with well-funded meeting notetakers like Fireflies.ai, Granola, and Read AI; new entrants like Calendly, Wispr, and Superhuman, which acquired Fathom; and other notetakers like Circleback, Talat, and Quill. Most of these notetakers want to connect to enterprise systems and, based on data captured in meetings, automate workflows. Otter is also heading in that direction. In the last few years, it introduced a meeting assistant, a search function that works across apps, and integration with other AI tools. Otter's newly appointed CMO, Alex Gay, who comes from Superhuman, told TechCrunch at a sit-down at the HumanX conference last month that the company sees a big opportunity in turning transcripts into an actionable roadmap for people who are in back-to-back meetings. "When we start thinking about what is actually the bigger problem that people are facing right now, we saw this large pain point in meeting-heavy roles, where people are back-to-back in conversations. These meetings are the work for them. That's either customer conversations or, from a sales standpoint. That's where strategies are discussed. But meetings are terribly inefficient because when you come into a meeting, you spend the first twenty minutes recapping what was said before to catch everybody up," he said. The company is now experimenting with providing insights before, after, and during meetings. It has been testing a feature to send a pre-brief to users with details and background information, with context from previous conversations across surfaces. Plus, it is also trying out a Live Assist feature to let users ask questions to the AI assistant during the meeting to get knowledge.
Otter.ai raises $320 million from General Catalyst's growth fund for its meeting tool. 4:00 AM PDT · October 20, 2026 Meeting note-taking tool Otter.ai announced on Tuesday that it has raised $320 million from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund (CVF), which provides capital to startups without diluting equity and gets returns on the results of marketing spend. Otter.ai said that it will use these funds for enterprise growth, go-to-market strategy, international expansion, and product innovation. The startup, which has been around for nearly a decade, has raised $50 million in total funding with its last round in 2021, according to PitchBook data. Last year, Otter hit a revenue milestone after crossing $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). The company said it's now approaching new milestones, but didn't provide updated figures. The company said that 40 million users have used its product to date, up from 25 million last year. However, given the crowded space among meeting note-taking products, a pertinent challenge for Otter would be to have its customers stick around. Unfortunately, the startup didn't provide any numbers around its monthly active users or churn. "Voice is one of the biggest untapped opportunities in enterprise AI, and Otter is at the forefront of it - a conviction that's only deepened watching Otter's growth," said Pranav Singhvi, Partner and Co-founder of CVF, General Catalyst. "When Otter enables enterprises to capture critical voice data and turns it into actionable business insights, teams move faster, decisions get sharper, and productivity compounds across the organization, and that's why it's a strong partner for CVF." There is a lot of competition in the market with well-funded meeting notetakers like Fireflies.ai, Granola, and Read AI; new entrants like Calendly, Wispr, and Superhuman, which acquired Fathom; and other notetakers like Circleback, Talat, and Quill. Equity Live: The Startup Stories Shaping 2026 Most of these notetakers want to connect to enterprise systems and, based on data captured in meetings, automate workflows. Otter is also heading in that direction. In the last few years, it introduced a meeting assistant, a search function that works across apps, and integration with other AI tools. Otter's newly appointed CMO, Alex Gay, who comes from Superhuman, told TechCrunch at a sit-down at the HumanX conference last month that the company sees a big opportunity in turning transcripts into an actionable roadmap for people who are in back-to-back meetings. "When we start thinking about what is actually the bigger problem that people are facing right now, we saw this large pain point in meeting-heavy roles, where people are back-to-back in conversations. These meetings are the work for them. That's either customer conversations or, from a sales standpoint. That's where strategies are discussed. But meetings are terribly inefficient because when you come into a meeting, you spend the first twenty minutes recapping what was said before to catch everybody up," he said. The company is now experimenting with providing insights before, after, and during meetings. It has been testing a feature to send a pre-brief to users with details and background information, with context from previous conversations across surfaces. Plus, it is also trying out a Live Assist feature to let users ask questions to the AI assistant during the meeting to get knowledge. When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn't affect our editorial independence. Ivan Mehta Ivan covers global consumer tech developments at TechCrunch. He is based out of India and has previously worked at publications including Huffington Post and The Next Web. You can contact or verify outreach from Ivan by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at ivan.42 on Signal. November 4 Buy One Pass, Get a Second Free Cover more ground at TechCrunch's ultimate founder bootcamp of the year by bringing your co-founder or partner for free Book before the BOGO deal expires
AI meeting-transcription company Otter.ai said on Tuesday it had closed $320 million in growth financing from General Catalyst's Customer Value Fund to expand its enterprise business and international reach.
Superwhisper, Cohere partner on meeting recorder for enterprise clients. Using Cohere models, meeting transcription and summaries can run locally on users' devices. Superwhisper is partnering with Cohere to launch a local meeting recorder, putting the consumer AI dictation tool it in competition with enterprise meeting assistant companies like Granola and Otter. The companies, which are both headquartered in Toronto, announced on Thursday that Superwhisper users can now access Cohere's AI models to record and transcribe meetings, allowing them to take advantage of the enterprise AI company's smaller language models, which are trained with far fewer parameters than large language models. Cohere's Transcribe model will transcribe what was said, while its Tiny Aya model will provide meeting summaries and action items. "Having our core audience realize the power of a tool like this is going to be big for our growth strategy." Brendan James, Superwhisper Notably, using this feature with Cohere's models lets it run locally on a user's device, without storing that data with Superwhisper, the company said. Meeting recorder competitors such as Otter have seen legal action alleging privacy breaches, including a lawsuit claiming that it deceptively recorded and stored private user conversations. Otter was also embroiled in a controversy in an Ontario hospital when sensitive patient data was mistakenly shared with dozens of people. "Privacy has always been a main point of our brand, because dictation is obviously so sensitive," Superwhisper head of growth Brendan James said in an interview. Founded in 2023 by PartnerStack co-founder Neil Chudleigh, Superwhisper is on a mission to allow people to do work primarily through voice dictation instead of typing on keyboards. The startup's platform allows users to select different AI models of varying sizes to perform voice-to-text transcription, and previously partnered with Cohere to use its AI transcription model. It also released its own small, open-weight transcription cleanup model, S1, which appears as a default when users sign up. Superwhisper already had a setting for meeting recording in its consumer dictation product, James said, but it wasn't the easiest to find and was mostly employed by technically minded users. The team felt that with Cohere's locally run models, they could offer an edge over other transcription services that are largely cloud-based (meaning the data is stored in the cloud rather than on a user's device). "This tool is our biggest swing at a full-company suite of products," James said. The tool doesn't join meetings as an individual participant (a phenomenon some tech leaders have complained about), and James said this was intentional because the team finds it "invasive." Canadian meeting-assistant startup Fellow works similarly and has called the feature "botless recording." With the launch, Superwhisper is envisioning a push toward more enterprise clients. A significant portion of its user base consists of software developers dictating instructions to AI coding assistants - essentially, speaking code into terminals. The idea is to have its most frequent users try out the new tool and encourage adoption across their companies. "Meeting tools are a dime a dozen. There's so much competition," James said. "Having our core audience realize the power of a tool like this is going to be big for our growth strategy." The company currently has professionals at big-name tech companies OpenAI, Meta, and Shopify using its transcription tools, James claimed. Earlier this summer, Superwhisper told BetaKit that its revenue split used to be mostly from individual users, but has increasingly grown toward enterprise plans. Superwhisper prices its pro subscriptions at monthly, annual, or a one-time flat rate, but for the moment, it isn't charging a premium for access to the meeting tool. In the near future, James said, they'll likely revisit enterprise pricing. Feature image courtesy Superwhisper. CIBC innovation banking. Two exited founders and an AI-focused VC reveal how AI is changing the calculus of funding a business.
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Industries
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
Debt Financing
Total Funding
$393M
Headquarters
Mountain View, California
Founded
2016
Find jobs on Simplify and start your career today