Digital paper app Goodnotes acquires Korean AI startup Dropthebit

Goodnotes recently announced the acquisition of Dropthebit, the creators behind Traw, a service renowned for automatically organizing meeting, lecture, and video content into concise notes and videos. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Traw, founded in 2020, has been at the forefront of leveraging technology to streamline note creation, whether it be from a user’s original materials or content discovered online. Backed by a seed investment led by Capstone Partners and KB Investment, Traw unveiled its initial offering, Traw Whiteboard, in 2022. This smart digital whiteboard ingeniously recorded user interactions during lectures and meetings, transforming them into organized meeting minutes and transcribing the video for easy reference and editing. Later, Traw AI was introduced, a tool that revolutionized the research process by automatically organizing and summarizing YouTube video content, from creating short video/textual summaries to extracting key information in tabular format.

As part of the acquisition, Traw AI will discontinue its services. The shutdown will be effective from 16 February 2024. The platform will no longer accept new subscriptions starting today, the company announced on its website.

The acquisition marks Goodnotes’ maiden venture into acquiring innovative companies, signaling its commitment to fortifying the overall user experience. In 2023, Goodnotes had invested $1.9 million in WeBudding, South Korea’s largest digital stationery platform. This strategic move was part of Goodnotes’ broader initiative to collaborate with emerging startups that offer complementary technologies or services in the dynamic digital paper space. 

Launched in 2011, Goodnotes is currently used by over 24 million monthly users worldwide. 

Kyumin Sim, former Traw co-founder and CEO, now a product lead at Goodnotes, expressed his enthusiasm about the acquisition, stating, “Like many M&As, the meeting of Goodnotes and Traw was like fitting together forgotten puzzle pieces. I’m excited about the new features this will inspire and the value we’ll bring to many people.” The move not only bolsters Goodnotes’ AI note-taking features but also opens the door for exploring modalities beyond the traditional stylus, indicating a strategic shift towards diversifying the platform’s offerings.

Steven, CEO at Goodnotes, highlighted the seamless synergy between the two companies, stating, “When I met the Traw team for the first time in Seoul, I knew right away that the AI tools they’ve built for audio and video recordings are a natural fit for Goodnotes. We feel very fortunate to be in a position to acquire small, capable teams like Traw to accelerate our roadmap.”