Circleback, a meeting note-taker startup, has launched a free subscription tier to attract more users. The new plan allows users to transcribe an unlimited number of meetings, though they can only access their history for the last 30 days. The free plan includes recording meetings, mobile and Apple Watch app access, AI-driven transcript queries, and integration with Linear and Slack. Users seeking full integrations, unlimited history, and API access must upgrade to paid plans starting at $15 per month. Prior to this change, Circleback’s plans began at $20.83 per month. The company said the free tier would serve as marketing expenses and help reduce user drop-off due to a previously limited trial period. Source: techcrunch
Circleback, founded in 2023 by Ali Haghani and Kevin Jacyna, raised $2.5 million in 2024 and has been profitable since then. The company reported annual recurring revenue of over $1 million per employee with a team of eight, translating to an estimated ARR of about $8 million. Haghani noted that the company’s previous limited trial period led to a significant user drop-off, prompting the introduction of the free tier. He emphasized that the free plan would allow more people to experience the product, increasing the likelihood of conversion to paid plans. Source: techcrunch
Circleback’s CEO, Ali Haghani, stated the company does not spend on Google or Meta ads and plans to use the free tier as marketing. He also mentioned that the startup is not immediately seeking additional funding, as it does not see any growth bottlenecks. Haghani said the company is consistently competing and winning customers against larger, better-funded firms. He added that the startup would consider fundraising if it realized that money could solve an internal problem. Source: techcrunch
