Wispr closed a $280 million Series B round at a $2 billion valuation, led by Menlo Ventures, the AI dictation startup announced Monday.

The company has now raised $361 million total, with this latest round coming less than 10 months after its previous funding. Wispr plans to use the capital to expand beyond its core dictation product into new areas like meeting note-taking.

Existing investors Notable Capital, NEA, Neo Ventures, 8VC, and MVP Ventures participated in the round. New backers include Acrew, Forerunner, Goodwater, Peak XV, Together Fund, and PLUS Capital.

The funding comes as Wispr faces growing competition in AI dictation from apps like Willow, Monologue, Aqua, and Superwhisper. Several developers are also building free or lower-cost alternatives for prosumer users.

New model addresses quality concerns

Alongside the funding announcement, Wispr launched a new speech understanding model called Canto. The upgrade addresses recent user complaints about dictation quality drops, with the company claiming error rates will fall from 30% to under 10%.

Since November, Wispr has expanded its Android app and scaled go-to-market teams in India and the UK. The startup is also partnering with hardware makers like Oasis ring to enable quiet dictation on wearable devices.

Wispr's new meeting note-taker competes with tools like Granola, Fireflies, and Read AI. While it currently displays summaries and action items, the company plans to integrate with other productivity tools for document creation and email drafting.

Last month, Wispr established Interface Labs under Ariya Rastrow, a former Amazon Alexa team member. The lab will explore new interfaces for human-computer interaction beyond traditional voice commands.

The company's rapid funding pace reflects investor appetite for AI productivity tools, though Wispr must now prove it can maintain quality while expanding into crowded adjacent markets like meeting software.