AI note-taking device startup Pocket has raised $11 million in funding as it looks to compete in a growing market of gadgets designed to record, transcribe and organize real-world conversations.
The company, backed by Y Combinator, sells a $129 credit-card-shaped device that attaches to the back of a smartphone and offers unlimited recordings, transcriptions and task generation without requiring a subscription.
Pocket said it has sold more than 130,000 units since launching last year. The latest funding round was led by Accel, Y Combinator and Mati Staniszewski, the chief executive and co-founder of AI voice company ElevenLabs.
The startup is entering a crowded market that includes dedicated AI recording devices from companies such as Plaud, Mobvoi, Anker, Viaim and Vibe. The sector has gained traction despite competition from smartphone apps that can perform similar transcription tasks.
Pocket’s device records conversations, converts them into text and allows users to generate meeting summaries, ask questions through an AI assistant, create mind maps and transform transcripts into different formats through its mobile application.
While basic transcription is included with the device, Pocket charges $200 annually for advanced features including unlimited AI summaries, AI assistant queries, daily highlights and file attachments.
“You can record on the go, offline, and in the field, which is exactly how lawyers, salespeople, doctors, real estate agents, construction workers, and students use Pocket today,” Cecilia Wang said. “Not only are people present rather than shifting focus to take notes, but more information and insights also get captured than ever before, which otherwise would have been lost. Over time, that accumulation of insights is really valuable: one central place where your ideas, conversations, and thoughts live, rather than scattered and lost,” Wang said.
Pocket was founded by Akshay Narisetti, a founding member of rival AI note-taking startup Omi, and Gabriel Dymowski, who previously founded a blockchain-based document management company.
“We thought every meeting notetaker was built for online conversations, but nothing was geared towards real-life talk. AI really needs a lot of context to work better for us, and a lot of that context exists offline,” Narisetti told TechCrunch.
For enterprise users, Pocket offers workflow management tools, webhook support and integrations with services including Google Calendar, Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, Obsidian, Claude and Cursor. It also provides a model context protocol (MCP) server to connect its AI assistant with external databases.
The company is positioning the device as a tool for automating workplace tasks such as drafting emails, updating customer relationship management systems and creating action items after meetings.
Pocket faces competition from software-focused AI transcription companies including Granola, Zoom, Fireflies.ai, Otter.ai and Read AI. Hardware-focused rivals are also expanding into enterprise software, with Plaud building additional tools and services around its recording devices.
The funding comes as startups race to develop dedicated AI devices that capture more context from users’ daily activities, despite questions over whether standalone hardware can outperform increasingly capable smartphone-based AI applications.
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