Now that we have so many startups offering AI bots that can do everything from listening to your meetings and transcribe them, to taking notes and surfacing insights, companies in the space are being forced to differentiate themselves by offering additional feature sets and integrations.
One such company, Read AI is trying to do just that by integrating its AI bot with email, Slack and enterprise tools like Hubspot, Jira, and Confluence. And to accelerate product development, the startup said on Monday it has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round led by Smash Capital. Notably, the new round comes just six months after the startup raised a $21 million Series A.
Co-founder David Shim told TechCrunch that after the startup’s Series A earlier this year, the company has seen strong customer growth — it has had more than 100,000 new accounts created since — and the company sought to leverage that growth.
“In less than six months, we’ve doubled our sign-ups, active users, and [monthly recurring revenue], surpassing even our most aggressive projections. We’re leveraging this momentum to raise now,” he said.
Shim didn’t disclose Read AI’s valuation but he did say that its valuation saw a bump to match its growth.
Brad Twohig, co-founder and managing partner at Smash Capital, said that when investing, he often looks for companies with product-led growth, and Read fit that mold well.
“I love finding companies in spaces that both cater to large group of people and have an enterprise component at the same time,” he said.
Product evolution
Read AI started supporting integrations with email, messages, and meeting apps earlier this year, and the company is today releasing a Chrome extension that can display your schedules, meeting reports, a quick add-to-meeting option, and insights from meetings.
The extension can highlight key points within lengthy email threads, and can create email drafts that take into context previous emails, messages, and meetings. It also highlights quick notes from meetings or Slack messages about the same topics.
Email clients from providers like Shortwave and Superhuman also offer similar capabilities.
Read AI is offering the Chrome extension for free. Shim noted the new fundraise was another reason to develop and scale products like this and offer them without cost.
“Wherever you work, we’re pulling in that content, and we’re giving you summaries, we’re giving you recommendations. That’s a bigger opportunity, but there is a bigger cost center associated with it. We’re focusing on growing that market while maintaining the lead that we have on the meeting notes side,” Shim said.
Smash Capital’s Twohig feels services that transcribe meetings are becoming a commodity, but Read AI’s approach of deploying its AI bot everywhere can turn it into a fine business.
“We ran into Read AI as an assistant showing up at meetings and taking notes. But when we sat down with David, we understood a broader vision and concept of having a co-pilot anywhere. This tool can follow you through day-to-day tasks, keep helpful records, and allow you to be a better teammate.”
Read AI currently has 40 people on its payroll and the company aims to expand to 100 people by the end of the Q1 2025.
The Series B round also saw participation from existing investors Madrona and Goodwater Capital.
