Company says it serves more than 2.5 million users across over 170 countries
Plaud, the San Francisco-based maker of AI-powered note-taking devices, plans to file for a U.S. initial public offering in 2028 once annual revenue exceeds $1 billion, co-founder and Chief Executive Nathan Xu told The Wall Street Journal. The company is targeting $500 million in global sales this year, Xu said.
Plaud reached $100 million in annual recurring revenue and now serves more than 2.5 million users across over 170 countries. The company was valued at more than $1 billion as of last year and is currently “highly profitable,” according to Xu. Plaud was incorporated in 2022.
The company designs AI-powered hardware and software for capturing and transcribing conversations. Its Plaud Note device attaches to a smartphone and can record, transcribe and summarize phone calls.
“I find it always difficult to keep track of all the best ideas and also the details, which causes a lot of pain [when] you feel that you are not able to catch up,” Xu said, describing the experience that inspired him to create the company.
Vertex Holdings is Plaud’s largest investor, Xu said. Vertex Holdings is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore state-investment firm Temasek Holdings and operates a global network of funds under the Vertex Ventures name. Vertex was an early investor in Chinese robotics company Unitree and Southeast Asian technology company Grab.
Plaud sources chips from external companies, including Taiwanese semiconductor firm Realtek, and assembles its products in Shenzhen, China. The company designs and engineers its devices in-house, Xu said.
Plaud has about 300 employees in China and around 100 in San Francisco, with operations in Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia. The U.S. and European markets account for about two-thirds of the business, Xu said.
Plaud on Wednesday announced the opening of its new Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore, where its headcount has grown to 100 staff from 10 in nine months.
As Plaud expands, Xu said a key priority is securing the “best talent,” an objective that is also shaping its acquisition strategy. Plaud is primarily interested in acquiring companies with strong talent that could help it develop capabilities it cannot build quickly enough on its own, rather than adding new users or products, he said. Xu said Plaud had explored acquisitions, but none had succeeded.
Rapid technological change is forcing the company to make difficult choices about where to invest.
“It’s something very difficult to navigate…[there are] too many changes and too many choices and you get to bet what you think would be right for the next 12 months,” Xu said.