Online Writing Editing Tool, Grammarly Raises Over $200m to Empower Effective Communication

Grammarly, an online editing tool for writing, has raised over $200 million at a valuation of $13 billion. The funding round was led by Baillie Gifford and funds and accounts managed by BlackRock Inc.

Founded in 2009 by Max Lytvyn, Alex Shevchenko and Dmytro Lider, Grammarly uses machine learning to assist not only with basic writing but also spell-check, grammar, tone of language, and context.

Since it was launched, the firm has built numerous products, including Grammarly Business, which help large companies across different functions including sales and marketing. Some of its other services include a plagiarism detector. According to the company, its services are currently used by roughly 30 million people every day.

The surge in its valuation highlights Grammarly’s stunning growth in recent years after it launched a freemium business model in 2015, helping it amass a loyal base of millions of daily users and other big-name enterprise customers including Zoom, Cisco Systems Inc, Dell Technologies, and Expedia.

The startup also recently struck a partnership with Samsung Electronics and under the deal, Grammarly’s writing suggestions will be integrated with the South Korean company’s smartphone keyboard. That will enable Samsung customers to use Grammarly’s tools, without having to install an app.

Grammarly global head of product Rahul Roy-Chowdhury says the funding will be put toward further developing the company’s technology and “accelerat[ing] efforts to help people communicate in our digital-first world.”

“From changes in our tone to workplace communication shifts at large, the global pandemic has left a lasting impact on how we communicate. The shift to remote-first everything — including school and work — has only increased the need for digital communication assistance like ours,” Roy-Chowdhury adds.

“Poorly-written communication was already estimated to cost businesses billions annually in lost productivity — and that was well before the pandemic forced people to start communicating remotely across all kinds of new connectivity and productivity tools.”