Superhuman has acquired Fathom, the meeting notetaker supported by Y Combinator, instead of building its own. This move places Superhuman among the growing number of productivity platforms betting on AI acting independently, rather than merely following commands.
According to data from PitchBook, Fathom, which began operations in 2020, has brought in more than $30 million in capital and was worth $94 million in 2024. The company’s backers include Zoom Apps Fund, Telescope Partners, BoxOne Ventures, and Maven Ventures, along with individual investors Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear, and Cruise co-founder Kyle Vogt.
The generous free plan offered by the notetaker has pushed monthly active users past 400,000. The company reports that over 1 million people have recorded meetings through the service.
The Internal Test That Failed
This year, Superhuman ran an internal test of a notetaker with select users before it decided to purchase a ready-made product rather than attempt to build one from scratch. The choice demonstrates just how difficult the company found the undertaking.
Superhuman’s CEO Shishir Mehrotra said that the company’s internal testing altered its understanding of the market. According to him, the testing revealed how extensive the products in this category are and how much development remains.
“A lot of these products make the job feel really easy, but it’s actually quite tricky to do a great job in all parts.”
The man expressed admiration for certain technical details constructed by the Fathom team without specifying which ones. He hinted that with a notetaker, Superhuman can work on pulling up meeting context in real time.
Why Superhuman Chose to Buy
The competition for a place among meeting notetakers is fierce. Startups such as Granola, Read AI, and Wispr, a newcomer, have each raised millions of dollars to expand. Those funded by venture capital are now under pressure from the market to offer more than merely taking notes.
Some of those factors mattered in Superhuman’s decision to acquire Fathom. Fathom’s CEO Richard White said Superhuman’s 40 million user base was a good chance to reach users at scale.
“The reach of Superhuman is massive. I have always thought about M&A in terms of speed of building a product that everyone uses, and a part of that comes down to distribution. If we were to operate Fathom as a standalone company, we would have to build a lot of things that are already in the Superhuman platform,” he said.
What Superhuman Already Offers
The email client, the docs app, the calendar, the database solution, and the newly launched AI agent builder platform all sit within Superhuman’s current lineup. A meeting notetaker added to that group gives the company the ability to draft emails, update data entries, schedule follow-up meetings, and set AI agents into motion with insights pulled from meeting data.
| Product | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Email client | Sends and receives messages |
| Docs app | Creates and edits documents |
| Calendar | Manages appointments |
| Database solution | Stores and searches data |
| AI agent builder | Builds automated tasks |
| Meeting notetaker | Records and summarizes meetings |
The Cost of Building a Notetaker
The purchase demonstrates a practical issue: notetakers appear simple at first glance, yet they are difficult to get right. Mehrotra said the testing made that point plain.
“A lot of these products make the job feel really easy, but it’s actually quite tricky to do a great job in all parts.”
Rather than finishing its own work on the feature, the company chose to buy it instead, reasoning that purchasing would move things forward more quickly. This decision stands out for a company that had already begun developing the capability itself.
The Numbers Behind the Deal
A great deal of money has gone into Fathom over time. Among its investors sit Zoom Apps Fund, Telescope Partners, BoxOne Ventures, and Maven Ventures. On their own, individual backers include Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear, and Cruise co-founder Kyle Vogt.
Monthly active users have now passed 400,000, driven by the notetaker’s free plan. The company says over 1 million people have used the service to record meetings.
The Path Forward
There is no stated schedule for Superhuman putting the notetaker into the hands of all its users. The purchase itself speaks for the company’s intentions. It wants AI to take action without needing constant direction from people, and a notetaker is the means to make that happen. Rather than attempt to create one themselves, the company elected to bring an existing one into the fold.
A merger joins Superhuman’s existing suite with a working notetaker, changing the character of the meeting notetaker market in the process.
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