Livescribe produces digital smartpens that capture audio while users take notes and allow playback by tapping written text. The pens target students and professionals who need to transcribe or revisit notes. The company has sold approaching 1 million units, employs about 100 people, and lists pen prices of $99 (2GB) and $199 (8GB). Livescribe raised a new $10 million financing round and has now raised $115 million in total. Management recently changed: Gilles Bouchard was named CEO, replacing founder Jim Marggraff, who remains on the board. The company is still in investment mode and not yet fully self-sustaining, and plans include adding features such as wireless networking and tighter integration with tablet ecosystems. Livescribe is an Oakland, California-based maker of smartpens, including its next-generation Echo model. The company combines hardware and software to capture notes and audio and share them as interactive Pencast PDFs. It has integrated tools from recently acquired Zoomii Learning, enabling sharing and direct integration with online services such as Google Docs and Facebook. The company said the new financing will allow expansion into new markets and advancement of its communication and collaboration platform. Proceeds are intended to enable greater integration with existing workflows and applications. To date Livescribe has raised approximately $100 million in total capital. In conjunction with the round, two investor representatives joined the company's board of directors. Livescribe builds the Pulse smartpen, a device that creates an audio recording linked to handwritten notes. The company plans to launch a Livescribe app store later this year and reports 3,600 developers building applications for it. Customer feedback appears strong: 90.6% of customers report “excellent” or “good” experiences, and the company has 9,200 Facebook fans. Livescribe has been raising repeatedly over the past year and has now secured additional capital to support product and platform growth. Specific sales figures and demand metrics were not disclosed in the article. Livescribe develops the Pulse smartpen, a device that records audio and links it to handwritten notes via an onboard display and processor. The product is targeted at professionals and college students and the company shipped the pen in June. Livescribe is taking its Mac software out of beta and says it will expand internationally and launch a third-party application store later this year. The app store is positioned to turn the Pulse into a platform for business and productivity apps; more than 2,900 developers have signed up. The company has received positive press and awards, including a DEMO God award and a Best of Show at MacWorld. Livescribe has not disclosed sales numbers publicly. Livescribe makes the Pulse, a high-tech smartpen that records audio while users take notes and captures text with an infrared camera. The pen includes a small display for playing short animations and is positioned as useful for journalists, students and others who need to sync notes with recordings. The cheapest Pulse model sold for $149 and the device went on sale in June. Livescribe has received positive press coverage, won a DEMO God Award at the DEMO conference, and drew praise from outlets like Engadget. The company also markets the Pulse as a potential platform for other pen-based applications. Financially, Livescribe has been fundraising and expanded its first round to total more than $30 million.

Total raised

$97M

Funding rounds

6

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Jan 2012