Granola: Investing in What Makes Us Human

Chris & Sam have the remarkable ability to make a nuanced insight sound like common sense the moment they say it out loud.

When they told us that most work happens in meetings, it sounded obvious. But then you realise it’s actually contrarian.

Instead of being a tax on productivity, meetings are often where ideas become companies, negotiations become deals, and conversations become careers.

But we’ve never had the means to properly honour those interactions. Until now.

Honouring our minds

That’s how all of us felt when we first used Granola: the freedom to immerse ourselves in the meeting, in the knowledge that the rest was taken care of.

No awkward bots joining calls, no unintelligible transcripts, just the ability to be present and engage; in the dance of a negotiation, the hum of a brainstorm and the pulse of a stand-up.

Granola didn't just make notes, it changed the tone of the meeting itself – and in doing so, enhanced everything that flowed from it. Conversations became shareable, the context behind decisions understandable and the key insights surfaceable. All with the lightness that felt almost invisible.

Winning our hearts

As a result, the product love Granola has generated in a short period of time is palpable. Earning the trust to summarise someone’s words accurately, and pair that with delight and humour is a rare skill.

Granola Crunched captured it perfectly, turning the quirks of how we communicate into something worth celebrating. Your repetitive catchphrases. Your subconscious lines of questioning. Your underappreciated trait.

These moments turn every user into an evangelist, and it’s a pattern we’ve seen before: starting in the individual grassroots, spreading across teams, and quickly becoming instrumental to how an enterprise functions.

Peeking into our souls

And really, it feels like we’re just at the beginning. Already it’s clear that Granola enables a new kind of self reflection, learning how we can show up and communicate better, embracing what makes us impactful.

It is with this same anthropological lens that Chris and Sam approach building; subtly, intentionally and warmly, but with razor sharp scrutiny. Relentlessly keeping the customer and the human at the core of everything they do.

One customer told us they love how Granola plays on the notion of memory, and how re-reading notes surfaced different things each time. Another said, “I wish I knew myself the way my Granola Crunched knows me”, appreciating the opportunity to grow and develop with its insight.

Trusting our gut

And there couldn’t be a more important time for it. At Index, we’re sure that as AI continues to excel in IQ and productivity, it can also enable us to be more human. We’re excited about products that can drive feelings associated with this - self actualisation, creativity, chaos and joy.

Thanks to Chris, Sam & team, the richest and most human layer of work is finally being captured and made more powerful than ever.

All quietly and intuitively built out of London, with a global community and an abundant ambition.

We couldn’t be more thrilled to lead their $125m Series C and partner with them on this journey. And we can't wait to Granola the notes along the way.