Category: AI Agents
A screen-free AI wearable device and platform designed to capture, transcribe, and summarize real-world conversations and meetings in real-time. Pocket was founded in 2024. The company is led by Akshay Narisetti. Based in San Francisco, USA. Team size: 6. Total funding raised: $500,000. Latest round: Seed. Key investors include ["Y Combinator","The Residency"].
- Founded
- 2024
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, USA
- Team size
- 6
- Total funding
- $500,000
Value proposition
Provides an 'external brain' that eliminates the need for manual note-taking, allowing users to remain fully present in conversations while ensuring all key insights are captured and organized.
Products and solutions
["Pocket AI Wearable (Hardware)","Pocket Mobile & Web App (Transcription/Analysis Dashboard)","Pocket for Teams (Collaborative meeting intelligence)","Pocket API (For developers and enterprise integrations)"]
Unique value
Combines a screen-free, 'ambient' hardware form factor with high-velocity software iteration, moving away from traditional smartphone-based recording to a dedicated, always-ready AI assistant.
Target customer
Busy professionals, executives, journalists, researchers, and students who need to document verbal interactions without the distraction of a screen.
Industries served
["Professional Services","Education & Research","Healthcare","Legal","Enterprise Productivity"]
Technology advantage
Vertical integration of custom audio-capture hardware with proprietary LLM-based summarization logic; leverages a 'builder' ethos to achieve rapid market penetration and high revenue traction compared to traditional hardware startups.
How they differentiate
Pocket differentiates through a 'screen-free' philosophy and vertical integration. Unlike software-heavy competitors that rely on smartphone interfaces, Pocket focuses on a dedicated ambient hardware device that captures real-world interactions with high-fidelity audio, processing them through a proprietary 'external brain' logic that emphasizes presence over digital distraction.
Main competitors
["Limitless (formerly Rewind)","Plaud.ai","Omi (Based Hardware)"]
Key partnerships
["Y Combinator (W26 Batch)","Based Hardware (Strategic connection/Legacy)","The Residency (AI Hardware Program)"]
Notable customers
["Individual Executives","Journalists","Research Teams","YC Startup Founders"]
Major milestones
["Achieved $27M ARR in 2025/2026","Shipped 30,000+ Pocket AI units globally","Accepted into the Y Combinator Winter 2026 (W26) batch","Successful transition/rebrand from the Based Hardware/Omi open-source project to the Pocket commercial entity"]
Growth metrics
Reported $27M Annualized Revenue Run Rate (ARR) within months of launch; over 30,000 hardware units shipped globally.
Market positioning
High-growth leader in the 'Ambient AI' and wearable productivity hardware space, targeting the 'prosumer' and executive market.
Geographic focus
Headquartered in San Francisco, USA, with a global shipping footprint covering over 30,000 units across North America, Europe, and Asia.
Patents and IP
No registered patents publicly disclosed; likely relying on trade secrets and proprietary hardware-software integration.
About Akshay Narisetti
Akshay Narisetti is a hardware and AI engineer who previously founded Based Hardware, where he developed Omi, one of the world's largest open-source AI note-taking wearable devices. He gained viral attention for hacking Google's 'Dino Game' to secure a job interview, ultimately rejecting multiple offers from Google to pursue independent ventures. He is a graduate of the SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRM IST), Chennai, and has completed prestigious fellowships with the On Deck Fellowship (ODF) and The Residency’s AI hardware program.
Official website: https://heypocket.com/