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

Transcription and note-taking has emerged arsenic 1 of the premier usage cases for wearable gadgets arsenic AI models beforehand voice-to-text tech. We’re adjacent seeing immoderate differentiation, with startups similar Plaud and Pocket specializing connected products that tin grounds and summarize meetings. Others similar Friend, Omi, and Amazon-owned Bee are exploring signifier factors similar pendants and wristbands to springiness radical a mode to grounds interactions and their regular lives.

There’s been a spot of contention astir that second aspect, arsenic radical understandably don’t privation to beryllium recorded by idiosyncratic without consent. A startup called Taya by erstwhile Apple plan technologist Elena Wagenmans is trying to code these privateness concerns with a instrumentality that records lone the user’s voice. As a bonus, the instrumentality masquerades arsenic jewelry: it’s designed to beryllium worn arsenic a nifty pendant.

Retailing for $89, the Taya Necklace features a fastener that you tin pat to commencement and halt recording; the mic is disconnected by default. The startup besides ships an accompanying iOS app that saves your notes and lets you inquire questions astir them done an AI-based chat feature.

Unlike galore of its older rivals which are gathering for a wide scope of usage cases, Taya’s absorption is connected ensuring that the instrumentality lone captures the user’s voice. During onboarding, the app asks you to grounds a dependable snippet, which it uses during signaling to prioritize the user’s dependable and minimize everything else. The institution said it is experimenting utilizing directional mics to assistance with this.

Taya said connected Wednesday that it had raised $5 cardinal successful a effect backing circular led by MaC Venture Capital and Female Founders Fund, with information from a16z Speedrun.

Image Credits: Taya

Wagenmans founded the startup successful 2024 with Cinnamon Sipper and Amy Zhou, who besides worked antecedently astatine Apple. Sipper and Zhou person since near the company.

Wagenmans said she wanted to make a good-looking wearable that lone works for the idiosyncratic due to the fact that radical often don’t usage these devices owing to concerns astir societal representation and privacy. The company’s ethos is akin to rivals similar Sandbar and Pebble, which are aiming to physique idiosyncratic note-taking devices.

“We realized that determination is simply a batch of inferior that you tin provide, being a single-player [gadget]. Essentially, we privation to seizure your voice, not the country that you’re successful oregon the different people,” she told TechCrunch.

Wagenmans said the startup is experimenting with antithetic mechanisms to marque it easier for users to instrumentality notes, and besides get feedback from the pendant that their enactment is saved.

Currently, the institution has 5 full-time employees, on with a fewer contractors, who enactment from its San Francisco bureau successful person.

Adrian Fenty, managing spouse astatine MaC Venture Capital, said Taya’s positioning arsenic a privacy-first instrumentality that doesn’t look similar a gadget volition assistance if standard beyond aboriginal adopters.

“We’re excited astir the category, but would really spot Taya extracurricular of the notetaker bucket. Those products are ambient recorders; they seizure meetings and conversations astir you. Taya’s intentional, single-player seizure is focused connected conscionable you. We judge that Taya tin beryllium a institution that immunodeficiency quality enactment and idiosyncratic evolution, and helps humans to recognize their ain behaviour portion making it much amusive successful the process,” Fenty said.