Grammarly Acquires Coda: A Strategic Move Towards AI-Powered Productivity

Grammarly acquires Coda, takes on co-founder Mehrotra as new CEO - SiliconANGLE

Grammarly acquires Coda, takes on co-founder Mehrotra as new CEO Grammarly Inc., the startup best known for its artificial intelligence-powered proofreading software, today announced its intent to acquire the AI productivity platform Coda Project Inc. and bring on Coda's Chief Executive Shishir Mehrotra as Grammarly's new CEO. Coda made a name for itself as a productivity suite startup competing with similar products such as Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. It combines the features of a word processor, spreadsheet and other applications into a single cloud platform with a flexible document format that an entire team can work together on. Alex Shevchenko, Grammarly co-founder, said since its founding 15 years ago the company has been paving the way using AI writing assistance for customers. This includes grammar and plagiarism checking online and embedding in productivity apps but now the company can provide more than just assistance. "The acquisition of Coda is a big step toward achieving our vision of a world where humans and AI work together everywhere work happens," said Shevchenko. "We're on a new mission to redefine productivity for the AI era." The companies did not disclose the terms of the deal. Coda was valued at $1.4 billion after closing a $100 million Series D funding round led by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in 2021. Grammarly's valuation is at $13 billion. The addition of Coda will bring Grammarly a broad suite of productivity products and capabilities including Coda Docs, the company's flagship tools for document collaboration. The company also recently launched Coda Brain, an AI document platform that brings together all the data within an enterprise within one interface no matter what application it belongs to. Coda says it has been put to use by over 50,000 teams at large companies including Figma Inc., DoorDash Inc., Square and The New York Times. Grammarly's AI has been implemented across over 500,000 applications and websites and is used by over 50 million people daily, according to the company. The platform has users at companies such as Atlassian Inc., Ford Motor Co. and Chevron Corp. "Grammarly is a beloved software product used by millions of people every day," said Mehrotra. "Combining Grammarly's trusted AI assistant with the intelligence and flexibility of Coda can give our customers the productivity gains they're looking for across their entire organization."

Grammarly acquires productivity startup Coda, brings on new CEO

Grammarly is acquiring productivity startup Coda, the company announced on Tuesday. As part of the deal, Coda's CEO and co-founder Shishir Mehrotra will become the new CEO of Grammarly. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition will help turn Grammarly's AI assistant into an "AI productivity platform" thanks to the addition of Coda's AI tools and products, the company says. The deal will give Grammarly customers access to new features, such as generative AI chat and a productivity suite, to help them work more efficiently. Grammarly's current CEO, Rahul Roy-Chowdhury, said in a statement that he is stepping down from his role, and that he will work alongside Mehrotra as an adviser. Mehrotra, a 25-year tech veteran who previously served as YouTube's chief product officer and chief technology officer, outlined his vision for Grammarly in a blog post: to make the AI assistant even smarter and more helpful. "Imagine if the Assistant not only gave amazing suggestions and refinements based on the writing it sees today but also had permission-aware connections into all of your other systems (from your email to docs to CRM to project trackers and more)," Mehrotra wrote. In addition, Coda's core product, Coda Docs, will be upgraded with the Grammarly Assistant. "In the longer term, we plan to weave the best of Coda and Grammarly together," Mehrotra wrote. "It will combine your company knowledge, generative AI chat features, a full productivity suite, and hundreds of agents to help you work smarter. We aim to redefine productivity for the AI era." Founded in 2009, Grammarly has 40 million active users and is valued at $13 billion. Coda was valued at $1.4 billion following its Series D raise back in 2021. As AI assistants become more and more accessible, Grammarly's acquisition of Coda will help it become better positioned to compete with companies building AI tools for writing and productivity.

Grammarly acquires productivity start-up Coda

Coda's CEO and co-founder, Shishir Mehrotra, is also set to become the new CEO of Grammarly. Online spelling and grammar assistant Grammarly has acquired productivity tools start-up Coda for an undisclosed sum. As a result of the deal, Grammarly will acquire Coda's AI tools and products, Coda Docs and Coda Brain, and integrate them into its current suite of tools. Founded in 2009, Grammarly currently has 40m active users and is valued at $13bn, while Coda was valued at $1.4bn following its Series D raise back in 2021. It is envisioned by Grammarly that with the addition of Coda's tools, the two companies will combine into an AI productivity platform. It was also announced yesterday (17 December) that Grammarly's CEO, Rahul Roy-Chowdhury, would be stepping down from his position. Coda's CEO and co-founder, Shishir Mehrotra, will be succeeding him as CEO. Welcoming the announcement that Mehrotra would be succeeding him as CEO, Roy-Chowdhury said: "I've known Shishir since our Google days together many years ago and deeply respect him as a leader and technologist. "I've thoroughly enjoyed learning from our talented employees and look forward to working alongside Shishir as an adviser." Mehrotra added that he's "honoured" to take on the new position. He also detailed the company's plans to weave the capabilities of Coda and Grammarly together: "It will combine your company knowledge, generative AI chat features, a full productivity suite, and hundreds of agents to help you work smarter. We aim to redefine productivity for the AI era," he said. The prospects offered by AI has turned it into a focus point for both businesses and governments alike, and Ireland is no exception. Last month, the Government published a "refreshed" AI strategy last month, which, according to the Government, consider several developments in AI technology and regulation since the original strategy, titled 'AI - Here for Good', was published in 2021. These developments include the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022 and the implementation of the EU AI Act over the summer. And last week, the Innovation Index Pulse Survey found that the majority of Irish businesses engaged in research and innovation have either adopted or plan to integrate a clear AI strategy within the next year. Don't miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic's digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

Grammarly Acquires Coda, Linkedin Co-Founder Reid Hoffman Applauds Move

Grammarly Inc.'s acquisition of Coda has received a thumbs-up from LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. The writing assistant company will now be led by the new CEO, Shishir Mehrotra. What Happened: On Tuesday, Hoffman extended his congratulations to Mehrotra and the Coda team. He was a member of Coda's board. Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox. Mehrotra separately also announced the acquisition on his blog. He outlined a comprehensive roadmap for integrating the products, beginning with improving Grammarly's AI assistant with Coda Brain's context and merging Coda Docs with the Grammarly Assistant. The long-term plans include intertwining the products to build an AI productivity platform for agents and apps. Established in 2009, Grammarly raised $200 million at a valuation of $13 billion in 2021. It has a user base of over 40 million daily active users. Meanwhile, Coda reached a valuation of $1.4 billion after its Series D funding round in 2021. Image via Flickr Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link. Read Next: Bitcoin Breaks $106K, Ethereum, Dogecoin Rally Ahead Of Key Fed Meet But Top Analyst Triggers Anxiety With This Observation Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs