Today, London-based Goodnotes acquired South Korean firm Dropthebit, which makes Traw, a meeting and video summary tool. Goodnotes plans to develop professional productivity products after the purchase.
The acquisition includes all three Dropthebit co-founders joining Goodnotes. Traw also announced on its website that its tool would close in February but enable consumers to export their data.
Dropthebit, created in 2020 and raising $1 million, launched a whiteboard solution in 2022. The tool captured lecture and meeting whiteboard actions. It also recorded the meeting for subsequent use. Traw eliminated the whiteboard, concentrated on meeting summarizing, and launched an AI-powered YouTube video summarization tool last year.
Goodnotes creator Steven Chan told Eltrys Dropthebit he needed a Series A investment. After considering investment and purchase, Goodnotes selected the latter.
We liked Dropthebit’s work before we met them via a mutual investor. We liked their multimodality and thought it fit Goodnotes, Chan remarked.
Since 2011, Goodnotes, with over 24 million monthly active users, has offered students a digital notebook-like solution on the iPad. Goodnotes 6 was released in August 2023 with a planner marketplace and subject-specific revision notes. Additionally, it offered paid SAT Math preparation classes and English and Chinese Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination courses.
Goodnotes hopes to enter professional productivity with its newest purchase. As Traw expands beyond schooling, Chan said its functionality to analyze films and put them in an Excel sheet might benefit investors and market researchers.
We already have an audio recorder in Goodnotes, but with Traw’s integration, we’ll focus on transcription and subsequently offer YouTube or internal videos. Chan said that LLM (Large Language Model)-based capabilities allow users to ask inquiries concerning notes and meetings.
Goodnotes aims to be a “paperless digital notebook” for professionals to help them get insights from meetings and papers. Goodnotes prioritizes stylus-based handwritten notes. The business says it is enhancing its typing experience across the board for various notetaking methods.
Besides purchasing Dropthebit, the note-taking firm acquired $1.9 million in Korea-based digital stationary startup WeBudding in September 2023. Goodnotes, which received a $6 million initial investment from Race Capital in 2020, is not seeking another round.
I believe we are cost-effective. So far, we have no fundraising plans. We value the flexibility of the user experience and product development. Chan said that this would continue in the future.
Alfred S. Chuang, managing partner at Race Capital, is ecstatic about Goodnotes’ productivity move.
“I am excited about this Goodnotes acquisition. Traw has an excellent AI/engineering team. Chuang emailed Eltrys that Goodnotes will include AI-powered audio and screen recording.
I understand Goodnotes’ evolution into new use cases that integrate into business processes. Their challenge is to develop without compromising the user experience.
