1. Granola is a startup offering an AI-powered notepad app for taking meeting notes.
2. Co-founder Chris Pedregal was inspired by the utility of AI in his prior company’s AI tutoring app.
3. Granola’s app works by transcribing audio directly from your computer and augmenting your notes with AI-generated details, hyperlinked to the transcript for fact-checking.
Granola is a startup that offers an AI-powered notepad app to help users take meeting notes. Unlike other AI transcription apps that summarize meetings on their own, Granola allows users to combine their own notes with AI-generated content based on a meeting transcript. Co-founder Chris Pedregal was inspired to create Granola after experimenting with AI and realizing its potential in everyday life. The app works by transcribing audio directly from your computer, connecting to your calendar, and analyzing meeting details.
Granola augments your notes with additional information referenced from the meeting transcript, such as budget details or project specifics. The app uses OpenAI’s GPT-4o, allowing users to engage with it as they would with ChatGPT. Granola’s notes are linked to the transcript summary for accuracy checks, and AI-generated notes are differentiated from user notes. The startup recently raised $4.25 million in funding from investors like Lightspeed, Betaworks, and Firstminute Capital.
Granola aims to make meeting note-taking easier by combining user input with AI assistance. Pedregal believes in designing AI tools that empower users while still allowing them to exercise judgment and control. Currently free for the first 25 meetings, Granola offers a $10 monthly subscription afterward. In the future, the startup plans to expand its offerings beyond meetings to tasks like memo writing, bug reporting, and scheduling follow-ups. The app is available for download on macOS.