Quill, a San Francisco, CA-based privacy-focused desktop application that transcribes, summarises, and generates actionable notes from meetings directly on devices, has raised $6.5 million in a Seed funding round led by Basis Set Ventures.
The round also saw participation from 500 Global, Naval Ravikant, Morado Ventures, and AME Cloud Ventures.
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The company plans to use the funds to grow its operations and advance its development work.
Unlike AI tools that restrict users with fixed workflows and hidden cloud systems, Quill lets users fully control their data, run AI however they want, and adapt workflows over time.
Quill’s design follows its focus on user control. All data stays on the user’s device, and Quill can run completely without using its cloud.
- Audio stays on the user’s device and is transcribed locally.
- Cloud sync is optional; if used, all data is encrypted end-to-end, and Quill never sees unencrypted content.
- Users decide where AI runs — on enterprise clouds like Google Vertex or AWS Bedrock, with no content logging, or fully local offline models.
- Workflows, integrations, and templates can be fully customized.
- User data is never used for AI model training.
Quilliam can link to tools like Notion, Linear, Affinity, Obsidian, Airtable, Manus, and Gamma using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Unlike basic integrations, Quilliam uses meeting context and user history to suggest and execute workflows automatically.
- After a product meeting, Quilliam can create or modify tickets in Linear, update documentation in Notion, and draft stakeholder updates.
- Before a client call, Quilliam surfaces relevant history and prepares briefing materials.
- Over time, Quilliam will help to customize Quill with automations, templates, and other improvements specifically for you.
“Work is now about managing AI,” said Michael Daugherty, co-founder and CEO of Quill. “Most AI tools don’t communicate or remember how users work. Quill removes this coordination burden. It starts with conversations, learns how users operate, and manages AI tasks for them, letting users focus on the discussion, not the follow-up.”
“We believe Quill’s focus on data control is truly unique,” said Christine Tsai, founding partner and CEO of 500 Global. “Their system lets security-focused companies use AI while staying compliant, which is especially important for regulated industries and businesses needing on-premise AI.”
About Quill
Founded by CEO Michael Daugherty, Quill created Quilliam, an AI assistant that manages your AI tools using context from your conversations. With a local-first design that keeps data on-device and optional end-to-end encrypted sync, Quill lets teams in regulated industries turn conversations into action securely and compliantly.
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