Grammarly To Build A Communication Assistant With New Round Of Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 15, 2019
  • Grammarly, the company known for its AI-powered digital writing assistant used by over 20 million people per day, announced it raised $90 million

Grammarly — the company behind the AI-powered digital writing assistant used by over 20 million people per day — announced recently that it raised $90 million in its latest round of funding. Existing investor General Catalyst led the round with participation from other existing investors including IVP and new investors. With this round of funding, Grammarly is going to continue to advance its cutting-edge technology for building a full-fledged communication assistant for individuals and businesses.

“Communication is a fundamental human need that helps us all connect and thrive,” said Grammarly CEO Brad Hoover. “But effective communication requires talent and time, and it can be very challenging. Grammarly’s AI fills this gap by empowering people worldwide—both native and non-native English writers, for personal, professional, and academic reasons—to communicate clearly and effectively.”

With this funding round, Grammarly will continue expanding its product reach and make sure it is available everywhere English writing happens. And the company will also continue tackling more complex issues of language and communication, including enhancing its recently released tone detector for providing users with actionable recommendations.

Grammarly understands that some of the most challenging written communication happens in the workplace. And so the company plans to accelerate product development that will support the needs of enterprise clients. For example, Grammarly’s AI-driven tools will help workplace teams achieve business results and avoid costly communication breakdowns. There are more than 2,000 institutions and businesses such as Trulia that tap into Grammarly for their organizational needs.

“We first invested in Grammarly to help them evolve into a platform that could improve written communication everywhere it happens,” added Hemant Taneja, managing director of General Catalyst. “The company’s ability to attract the talent needed to grow that platform continues to impress us, and today we’re excited to increase our investment to achieve their worthy mission.”

Launched in 2009 by Max Lytvyn, Alex Shevchenko, and Dmytro Lider founded, Grammarly has been profitable since 2011. And ever since Grammarly received its first round of funding in May 2017, the company has more than tripled its user base and delivered multiple product improvements that help more than 20 million people every day.

In order to help people connect and be understood, Grammarly has significantly expanded the AI-powered feedback its writing assistant delivers by offering suggestions that go beyond grammar correction to help improve the clarity, engagement, and delivery of one’s writing. And the service also provides recommendations for improving messages by making the content more concise and using inclusive language.

And now the product can also provide goal-specific writing recommendations, check for consistency, and enhance vocabulary. Plus Grammarly launched a tone detector in order to help its users ensure their messages come across the tone they intend.

Some of the other tools that Grammarly rolled out also include mobile keyboards on iOS and Android. And its Chrome browser extension was extended to Google Docs and Medium. Plus it revamped the Grammarly Editor and launched the self-serve business product Grammarly Business to support consistent professional communication.

In terms of office space, Grammarly opened a fourth office in Vancouver, B.C. and doubled the number of its team members across offices in San Francisco, New York, and Kyiv.