Tana Raises $25 Million To Solve Productivity Chaos With An AI-powered Knowledge Graph

Tana’s promise is its ability to automatically capture, structure, and act on information.

For decades, productivity software has promised to transform how people work. Despite an infinite stream of to-do applications, note-taking tools, and project management systems, the basic issue persists: information is dispersed, workflows are fractured, and people spend more time managing work than really performing it.

Tana, an AI-powered knowledge graph startup, is the most recent attempt to address this recurring issue. The company has spent nearly four years developing its method and has already raised $25 million in funding, attracting the attention of major investors and a growing network of eager users.

Tana has received funding in two stages. Tola finance led the most recent round, a $14 million Series A at a post-money valuation of $100 million, with support from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Northzone, Alliance VC, and firstminute finance. The previous $11 million initial round featured investments from La Famiglia (now part of General Catalyst) and key angels such as Google Maps co-founder Lars Rasmussen, Dropbox co-founder Arash Ferdowsi, Runway founder Siqi Chen, and Datadog founder Olivier Pomel.

The people backing Tana are no strangers to the struggle of productivity software. Rasmussen, in particular, was one of the minds behind Google Wave, an ambitious collaboration tool that ultimately failed to take off. He recalls, “Grim actually pitched some of [the Tana] ideas for Google Wave, but we never had time to build them.” That history just showshow long this problem has persisted—and how compelling Tana’s approach must be to draw renewed interest from those who have tried and failed in the past.

Tana’s promise is its ability to automatically capture, structure, and act on information. It listens to conversations, whether in Zoom calls or dictated memos, transcribes them, and turns them into actionable tasks. Its signature “Supertag” feature applies object-oriented programming principles to organize unstructured data instantly. Rather than relying on users to manually organize notes and reminders, Tana transforms them into structured workflows that integrate with other tools.

“We are building out a knowledge graph,” explained CEO Tarjei Vassbotn. “Everything that you do, whether it’s talking to your phone or having a meeting or writing your own notes, it is all automatically organized and connected together so that our AI can work.”

The company’s origins trace back to 2020 when Vassbotn, alongside co-founders Grim Iversen and Olav Kriken, set out to rethink how information flows in the workplace. Iversen, who also worked on Google Wave, brought deep expertise in information modeling, while Kriken brought experience in scaling digital businesses. Initially, they attempted to build their own AI models, but as the technology landscape evolved, they shifted course.

“We started out building our own models for everything,” Vassbotn said. “But when GPT-3 came out, we realized that this is going to be a race among many players.” Rather than competing with the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic, Tana decided to focus on making its system compatible with multiple AI models, allowing users to harness whichever system best fits their needs.

This adaptability has fueled strong demand. More than 30,000 users tested Tana in a closed beta, a Slack community of 24,000 has emerged, and over 160,000 people—including employees at more than 80% of Fortune 500 companies—are now on its waitlist. That level of interest is unusual for an enterprise software product still in its early days, suggesting that people are eager for something better.

Tana’s ambition extends beyond simple task automation. The platform integrates with over 50 tools, including Zoom, to ensure that workflows remain seamless rather than fragmented across multiple systems. Vassbotn sees a broader issue at play: “If all of those tools have their own AI agent, how on earth are they going to be able to collaborate? So you’re basically just ending up copying and pasting and having disparate information that is out of sync everywhere. That is sort of the core problem we’re trying to solve.”

Investors believe the company is onto something. “I meet a lot of productivity companies and have been in the space,” said Sheila Gulati, founder and managing director of Tola Capital. “But this is a miraculous experience. I use it to run our VC firm. This is a market that will have real competition and players who want to win, but this team has a high level of commitment to drive the experience. This is a long game, and their vision of productivity is completely different.”

While the software is already being used in enterprise environments, its current iteration is best suited for professionals who are comfortable with some degree of customization. “We envision Tana used by all knowledge workers,” said Kriken. The long-term goal is to create a system intuitive enough for widespread adoption, but that transition will take time.

As the company moves forward, it plans to develop more AI-driven automation, further integrate with enterprise tools, and refine its interface. Andre Foeken, CTO of Nedap, sees Tana as part of a larger shift in how businesses handle information. “Tana is like having a superpower at work. The right information at the right time. It is also the best tool we currently have to prepare our organization for the inevitable: The increasing rate of change, the need for collaboration, and the information flow that comes with the advent of AI. The age of personal effectiveness is here, and Tana is front and center.”

The real test will be if Tana can succeed where others have failed. Many productivity gadgets claimed to simplify work but ultimately added new complexity. The company’s ability to escape this trap and truly impact how people manage information will determine whether it becomes a necessary component of modern workflows or just another productivity experiment.

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Picture of Anshika Mathews
Anshika Mathews
Anshika is the Senior Content Strategist for AIM Research. She holds a keen interest in technology and related policy-making and its impact on society. She can be reached at anshika.mathews@aimresearch.co
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