Problem
The most valuable information at work is spoken, in calls, meetings and hallway conversations, and most of it is lost within a day. Phone operating systems restrict call recording, and wearable pins ask people to wear a gadget.
The private memory layer for real-world conversations.
Sottile pairs a 3 mm AI recorder card with our own app and cloud. The hardware gets us into the pocket; the software, and the trust, is the business.
Proven demand, cited.
Every figure below comes from a public source. Sottile itself has no revenue or users yet; our own numbers further down are labelled as estimates and targets.
2M+
Plaud devices shipped in under 3 years1
$100M
Plaud ARR reported, June 20262
$3.48B
AI note-taking market by 2035, from $624M in 20253
18.75%
Forecast CAGR, 2026 to 20353
Plaud reported 1M+ devices sold and profitability by September 20254. Strategic interest: Amazon acquired AI wearable maker Bee (July 2025)5 and Meta acquired AI pendant maker Limitless (December 2025)6.
Product
A one-button aluminium card under 3 mm that lives on the back of the phone, captures the room and calls (via bone conduction), and syncs to the Sottile app for transcripts, summaries, action items and Ask.
Where we fit.
Public list prices as of October 2026. Our edge: the thinnest phone-mounted form factor, call capture, and a privacy-first app and cloud we own.
| Product | Sottile Card | Plaud Note and NotePin | Ruune | Omi | Bee and Limitless |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardware price | US$149 retail; $89 to $109 preorder | US$159 (Note, NotePin); Note Pro $1899 | US$160 list, $99 launch sale10 | US$129 sale ($179 list)11 | Bee $49.99; Limitless $99; both acquired5,6 |
| Form factor | MagSafe card, under 3 mm | Card (magnetic case) or wearable pin | MagSafe card, under 3 mm | Pendant | Wristband; pendant |
| Software | Free 300 min/mo; Pro $9.99/mo; Unlimited $19.99/mo | Free 300 min/mo; Pro $17.99/mo or $99.99/yr; Unlimited $29.99/mo12 | Free core; Pro $10.99/mo; Max $20.99/mo13 | Free plan; Pro $29.99/mo11 | Bee $19/mo at acquisition5 |
| Our angle | Canadian, privacy-first, own app and cloud, data-residency roadmap | Category leader, broad lineup | Closest form factor | Open-source community | Now inside Big Tech |
Hardware gets us in. Software keeps us.
Positive contribution on every card at retail, plus recurring software revenue from Pro and Unlimited.
All figures in this section are estimates. Supplier quotes are pending; landed cost is based on comparable listings (US$27 to $50) and assumed at US$25 to $45 per unit at low volume.
| Per unit, estimated | Founding $89 | Backer $109 | Retail $149 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landed hardware cost | $35 | $35 | $35 ($25–45) |
| Packaging and accessories | $4 | $4 | $4 |
| Fulfilment and shipping | $9 | $9 | $9 |
| Payment fees (~3%) | $3 | $3 | $4 |
| Warranty and returns (4%) | $4 | $4 | $6 |
| Contribution | $34, 38% | $54, 50% | $91, 61% (54–67%) |
Pro (US$89 a year) estimated software gross margin 50–70% after AI and cloud costs (assumes ~600 min a month average use at US$0.003–0.006 per transcribed minute plus summarisation) and payment or app-store fees. Hardware contribution excludes the AI cost of Pro months bundled with preorders (est. US$2–4 per user per month).
Preorders first, then scale.
- 1Validate
Founding 500
Direct preorders on sottile.ai via Stripe. Deposits measure real demand before we commit to inventory.
- 2Focus
Vertical beachheads
Sales, real estate, consultants and founders in Canada and the US: people who live on calls.
- 3Amplify
Creators and community
Seed units to productivity creators, founder-led content on X and LinkedIn, a Product Hunt launch, referral credit.
- 4Expand
Teams and retail
Team plans, Android, desktop meeting capture, then selected retail and B2B channels.
Targets, not results: 1,000 reservations before the production commitment; 3,000 units shipped in the first 12 months after launch.
Milestones we're building to.
- Q4 2026
Launch
Brand and preorders live, OEM terms signed, production samples, iOS app alpha.
- Q1 2027
Certify
FCC, ISED and CE certification; private app beta with Founding backers.
- Q2 2027
Ship
First production run; Founding 500 and Early Backers ship (target May).
- H2 2027 onward
Expand
Android, desktop meeting capture, integrations, Canadian and EU data residency, team plans.
Founder-led, hiring.
Ying Yang
Founder and CEO, Canada. Leads product, brand, supply partnerships and fundraising.
Open role
Head of Hardware and Supply Chain
Certification, manufacturing, quality and logistics.
Open role
Founding Mobile Engineer
iOS first, then Android; BLE device sync.
Open role
Founding AI and Backend Engineer
Transcription, summarisation and a privacy-first cloud.
Open role
Growth and Community Lead
Preorders, creators, lifecycle and support.
Raising a pre-seed round.
Proposed: US$750K on a post-money SAFE, for roughly 18 months of runway through first shipments and a seed-ready subscriber base.
The amount and terms are proposed and subject to discussion. Nothing on this page is an offer to sell securities.
Request the data roomProposed use of funds
Sources
- Plaud / Nathan Xu, LinkedIn announcement, May 2026: 2M devices shipped, US$500M+ cumulative bookings. linkedin.com
- Plaud press release, “Plaud Scales From $1M to $100M ARR”, 16 June 2026. global.plaud.ai
- Precedence Research, AI Note Taking Market (2025 base US$623.5M; 2035 US$3,476.7M; CAGR 18.75%). precedenceresearch.com
- Forbes (I. Martin), 2 Sep 2025: Plaud 1M+ devices, profitable, ~US$250M annualised revenue in 2025. forbes.com
- TechCrunch, 22 Jul 2025: Amazon acquires Bee ($49.99 band, $19/mo). techcrunch.com
- TechCrunch, 5 Dec 2025: Meta acquires Limitless ($99 pendant). techcrunch.com
- Engadget, Aug 2025: Android phones with Qi2 (Pixel 10 family). engadget.com
- OpenAI API pricing: gpt-4o-mini-transcribe ≈ US$0.003/min. developers.openai.com
- Plaud shop, accessed Oct 2026. plaud.ai
- Ruune shop, accessed Oct 2026. ruune.ai
- Omi product and offer pages, accessed Oct 2026. omi.me
- Plaud AI plan pricing, accessed Oct 2026. plaud.ai
- Ruune app, Apple App Store in-app purchases, accessed Oct 2026. apps.apple.com