Key facts
- Wispr raised $280 million in Series B funding.
- The startup's valuation reached $2 billion.
- Total funding raised by Wispr to date is $361 million.
- Wispr is launching a new speech understanding model named Canto.
- The company is expanding its product line to include meeting note-taking tools.
AI startup Wispr has secured $280 million in Series B funding, led by Menlo Ventures, at a valuation of $2 billion. This latest round brings the company's total funding to $361 million. Wispr, known for its AI dictation tools, plans to use the capital to expand its offerings into new areas, including meeting note-taking.
The company is facing increased competition in the dictation market from various apps. To address this and improve its services, Wispr announced a new speech understanding model called Canto, aiming to reduce error rates significantly. Existing investors, including Notable Capital and NEA, participated in the round, alongside new investors like Acrew and Forerunner.
Wispr is also broadening its product scope with a newly released note-taker tool for meetings, competing with services like Fireflies and Read AI. The company is exploring new interfaces for human-computer interaction through its Wispr Interface Labs, headed by Ariya Rastrow, a former Amazon Alexa early team member. Wispr has also expanded its market presence in India and the U.K. and is partnering with hardware manufacturers like Oasis ring.