Voice AI Startup Wispr Raises Additional $25M Funding Led by Notable Capital

Wispr, a voice AI company, has secured an extra $25 million in funding, led by Notable Capital, following a $30 million round from Menlo Ventures in June. The startup's dictation app, Wispr Flow, has witnessed significant user engagement, with an average user writing over 50% of their characters through the app after three months of usage.

Wispr has gained traction among enterprise customers, with 270 Fortune 500 companies and 125 other firms signing up. The new funding brings the company's total raised funds to $81 million. Notable Capital's Hans Tung, known for backing companies like Affirm, Airbnb, and TikTok, is joining Wispr's board. Wispr Flow has experienced a 40% monthly growth since June, attracting attention within the VC community. CEO Tanay Kothari expressed plans for international expansion and new product opportunities with the additional funding, aiming to hire top machine learning talent.

The startup aims to address user growth and retention, which has reached 100x year-over-year with 70% retention over 12 months. Wispr also aims to expand the availability of its Flow app beyond Windows, Mac, and iOS, with an Android app in the works.

Additionally, the company plans to invest in building its own voice models for personalized Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) to improve user experience. Wispr intends to test its technology through a closed API with select enterprises and hardware partners, with plans to open it up to more developers next year. The company faces competition from other dictation apps, including Willow, Aqua, Monologue, Typeless, TalkTastic, Superwhisper, and BetterDictation.

Wispr aims to evolve into a voice-led operating system with workflow automation capabilities, aiming to automate tasks such as replying to emails. Notable Capital's Tung expressed confidence in Wispr's potential to become a voice-led operating system, citing the company's recruitment quality and interaction speed.