Former Apple engineer raises $5M for a note-taking pendant that solely information your voice

Transcription and note-taking has emerged as one of many prime use instances for wearable devices as AI fashions advance voice-to-text tech. We’re even seeing some differentiation, with startups like Plaud and Pocket specializing on merchandise that may report and summarize conferences. Others like Buddy, Omi, and Amazon-owned Bee are exploring type components like pendants and wristbands to provide individuals a solution to report interactions and their each day lives.

There’s been a little bit of controversy round that latter side, as individuals understandably don’t need to be recorded by somebody with out consent. A startup known as Taya by former Apple design engineer Elena Wagenmans, is making an attempt to deal with these privateness considerations with a tool that information solely the consumer’s voice. As a bonus, the machine masquerades as jewellery: it’s designed to be worn as a nifty pendant.

Priced at $89 for pre-orders, the Taya Necklace includes a button which you can faucet to start out and cease recording; the mic is off by default. The startup additionally ships an accompanying iOS app that saves your notes and allows you to ask questions on them via an AI-based chat function.

In contrast to lots of its older rivals, that are constructing for a variety of use instances, Taya’s focus is on making certain that the machine solely captures the consumer’s voice. Throughout onboarding, the app asks you to report a voice snippet, which it makes use of throughout recording to prioritize the consumer’s voice and reduce all the pieces else. The corporate mentioned it’s experimenting utilizing directional mics to assist with this.

Taya mentioned on Wednesday that it had raised $5 million in a seed funding spherical led by MaC Enterprise Capital and Feminine Founders Fund, with participation from a16z Speedrun.

Wagenmans based the startup in 2024 with Cinnamon Sipper and Amy Zhou, who additionally labored beforehand at Apple. Sipper and Zhou have since left the corporate.

Wagenmans mentioned she needed to create a handsome wearable that solely works for the consumer as a result of individuals typically don’t use these gadgets owing to considerations round social picture and privateness. The corporate’s ethos is just like rivals like Sandbar and Pebble, that are aiming to construct private note-taking gadgets.

“We realized that there’s a lot of utility which you can present, being a single-player [gadget]. Primarily, we need to seize your voice, not the room that you simply’re in or the opposite individuals,” she informed TechCrunch.

Wagenmans mentioned the startup is experimenting with completely different mechanisms to make it simpler for customers to take notes, and likewise get suggestions from the pendant that their be aware is saved.

Presently, the corporate has 5 full-time workers, together with a couple of contractors, who work from its San Francisco workplace in individual.

Adrian Fenty, managing associate at MaC Enterprise Capital, mentioned Taya’s positioning as a privacy-first machine that doesn’t seem like a gadget will assist if scale past early adopters.

“We’re excited in regards to the class, however would truly place Taya exterior of the notetaker bucket. These merchandise are ambient recorders; they seize conferences and conversations round you. Taya’s intentional, single-player seize is concentrated on simply you. We consider that Taya is usually a firm that aids human work and private evolution, and helps people to grasp their very own conduct whereas making it extra enjoyable within the course of,” Fenty mentioned.

The story has been up to date to replicate that $89 worth is the pre-order worth of the machine.