AI-assisted writing tool Marker secures £9.7m

Marker, an AI-assisted writing tool, has raised a $13m (£9.7m) seed round led by Index Ventures, with participation from LocalGlobe.

Marker is a writing tool for ‘people who believe in writing’. The startup describes the tool as a reimagined word processor, built to support writers and designed with AI tools that write with you, not for you.

The tool offers this support by providing AI-assisted feedback and editing capabilities to writers while keeping content creation in the hands of the author.

The new investment will enable Marker to expand, accelerate product development, and continues to create tools that enhance the writing process.

Co-founder Jon Steinback has spent the last 20 years working to expand the overlap of creativity and technology – most recently at DeepMind, where he led brand and creative, and at Facebook, Foursquare and Google prior. 

Marker’s other co-founder, Ryan Bowman, has spent two decades working with and building platforms for writers inside literary and talent agencies, publications like Nature and the FT, and international independent media in places like Uganda and Saudi Arabia.

Betaworks, Radical Ventures, Tiny VC and Otherwise Fund also participated in the seed round alongside angel investors including Steve Newman, co-founder of Writely, which became Google Docs, and Cal Henderson, co-founder of Slack.

“Creative people deserve tools that understand their craft. Figma transformed how designers work together, Notion reimagined how teams organise ideas, but writing – the most universal creative act  – got left behind, stuck between legacy word processors and automation tools,” says Georgia Stevenson, partner at Index Ventures. 

“Marker offers a compelling new approach, and Jon and Ryan are building with the technical depth, product taste, and respect for craft this category demands. We’re delighted to lead their seed.”