Wispr Flow Raises $30M to Expand AI-Powered Dictation App and Enter Enterprise Market

Voice AI startups are experiencing a surge in popularity, with several companies raising significant funding in recent months. One such company, Wispr Flow, a dictation app, has announced that it has raised $30 million in Series A funding from Menlo Ventures, with participation from NEA, 8VC, and other notable investors. The company has now raised a total of $56 million. Founded by Tanay Kothari, Wispr Flow is designed to allow users to type by mouthing words silently. Initially focused on developing a hardware device for this purpose, the startup shifted its focus to the software interface in 2024. Since then, it has released apps for Mac, Windows, and iOS, and has seen widespread adoption among venture capitalists in Silicon Valley. Kothari noted that the company is on track to achieve profitability with its current rate of growth and that it initially didn't want to raise money. However, he was concerned about the potential threat posed by Big Tech players with a massive distribution advantage. To rapidly multiply the company's revenue and reach, Kothari decided to take the investment. Menlo Ventures CEO Matt Kraning, who has been an avid user of the app, said that Wispr Flow is creating an efficient way to translate digital thoughts and intent. The app captures users' speech and what they want to convey very well, and the team has focused on how people speak while developing models rather than word error rates. The startup said that the app has been growing its user base by 50% month-over-month, with 40% of users in the U.S., 30% in Europe, and 30% in other parts of the world. More than 30% of the app's users are from a nontechnical background. Wispr Flow currently supports dictation in 104 languages, with English accounting for 40% of dictations and Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Hindi, and Mandarin being the top languages. The company plans to use the funding to grow its team of 18 with roles in engineering and go-to-market. It will also release an Android app and cater to enterprise users by setting up company-wide phrase context and support teams. Wispr Flow is working on building the app into an AI-powered assistant that knows more about a user's personal context and helps with everyday tasks like sending messages, taking notes, and setting reminders. The company is also working with AI hardware partners to power the interaction layer. As voice AI technology continues to gain traction, Wispr Flow is well-positioned to capitalize on this trend and become a leading player in the space. With its focus on user-friendly interfaces and support for multiple languages, the company is poised to attract a wide range of users and achieve significant growth in the coming months and years.