In recent years, tools such as Figma, TLDraw, Apple’s Freeform, and Arc browser’s Easel functionality have tried to sell the idea of using an ‘infinite canvas’ for capturing and sharing ideas. French startup Kosmik is building on that general concept with a knowledge-capturing tool that doesn’t require the user to switch between different windows or apps to capture information.
Image Credits: Kosmik
Image Credits: Kosmik
Rony emphasized that combining these different tools, and bringing them into one place, is Kosmik’s core selling point.
“I think that everything revolves around the idea that we do not have the best web browser, text editor or PDF reader,” Rony said. “But because we allow them to exist together in the same place, and you can drag-and-drop stuff in between them, the tool becomes extremely powerful.”
Double down
Hanel Baveja, principal at Creandum, told TechCrunch that the firm decided to invest in Kosmik because it felt a little like Notion and Miro, with the potential to build something that changes the workflows of organizations entirely. However, Baveja said that the startup will have to create immediate value for users, just like any consumer tool in the space.
This cash injection is also timely, given the product iteration in the pipeline. Indeed, Kosmik is in the process of merging its codebases, with Kosmik 2.0 bringing feature parity to the mix — the new app will be web-based, with the desktop clients essentially wrapper apps.
Moreover, the new version will include features such as multiplayer collaboration and AI-powered auto-tagging for items in images.
Rony said that with the multiplayer mode, instead of sharing the whole board, you can collaborate with someone on just a single part of the canvas using a folder-like ‘card’ with objects dropped within it.
Kosmik opened to users in March, and currently claims around 8,000 daily users though it said that it’s hard to specify the exact number of people actively using it given that they can work entirely offline with the product.
It’s worth noting that Kosmik isn’t the only startup working in the and personal whiteboard space. Berlin-based Deta is building a new cloud OS for this and Sane is building a social knowledge-sharing platform. These companies will need to compete in some way to catch user attention and also convince them to try a new paradigm for knowledge capturing.