In a world where productivity apps often become burdensome themselves, Hoop, a new startup, aims to revolutionize how we manage our to-do lists. Founded by former Trello employees Stella Garber, Brian Schmidt, and Justin Gallagher, Hoop utilizes artificial intelligence to streamline task management by automatically generating and tracking to-do items from digital interactions. On June 5, 2024, Hoop announced it secured $5 million in seed funding led by Index Ventures, with contributions from Origin Ventures, Divergent Capital, and Chingona Ventures.
A New Approach to Productivity
Hoop’s innovative approach to productivity focuses on integrating AI directly into task management from the ground up. Unlike other productivity tools that retrofit AI capabilities, Hoop’s system captures potential tasks from Google Meet and Zoom meetings and Slack messages, consolidating them into a comprehensive to-do list. Future plans include expanding this capability to other platforms, starting with email.
Hoop’s AI bot attends meetings, transcribes conversations, and extracts actionable items, reducing the manual effort typically required to manage tasks. “We wanted to recapture the magic of the early days of Trello and do it again,” said CEO Stella Garber, highlighting the team’s mission to simplify productivity.
Founders and Vision
The founding team of Hoop brings a wealth of experience from their time at Trello. Garber, previously leading marketing at Trello, is joined by Gallagher, who was the first product person at Trello and developed its mobile app, and Schmidt, who managed operations, finance, and legal. This seasoned team believes their expertise uniquely positions them to address the current productivity challenges faced by professionals bombarded with meetings and messages.
“We realized that now more than ever, people are being bombarded with meetings and messages and needed a way to track everything they had to do,” Garber explained. The team’s vision is to create a seamless productivity tool that eliminates the inefficiencies of current systems.
Investment and Future Plans
The $5 million seed funding will enable Hoop to refine its individual user experience before expanding to team functionalities. Notable angel investors in this round include Wade Foster, CEO of Zapier; Job van der Voort, CEO of Remote; Andy Dunn, former CEO of Bonobos; Annie Duke, a renowned poker player; Maria Katris, CEO of Built In; Maggie Adhami-Boynton, CEO of ShopThing; and Sean Harper, CEO of Kin.
Garber emphasized the company’s commitment to perfecting the individual experience first. “We are really, really focused on making [Hoop] as useful for the individual as possible before we expand to teams,” she stated. Future updates will introduce different views and enhanced team collaboration features.
The Potential Impact of Hoop
From my perspective, Hoop represents a significant step forward in task management technology. By integrating AI at the core of its design, Hoop addresses the time-consuming nature of existing productivity tools. This could lead to a paradigm shift in how professionals manage their daily tasks, potentially increasing efficiency and reducing burnout.
However, the success of Hoop will depend on its ability to deliver on its promises and integrate smoothly with users’ existing workflows. While the initial focus on individual users is prudent, expanding to team functionalities will be crucial for widespread adoption in business environments.
As I see it, the pedigree of Hoop’s founding team and the substantial seed funding position it well for success. If Hoop can maintain its user-centric approach while scaling its features, it may well become an indispensable tool for modern professionals.
In summary, Hoop’s AI-driven to-do list management offers a promising solution to the productivity challenges faced by many today. With a strong founding team and significant financial backing, Hoop is poised to make a substantial impact in the productivity app landscape.
