Littlebird raises $11 million to capture screen context

Littlebird has raised $11 million in funding to develop an artificial intelligence tool that captures digital context from a user’s computer screen in text format. The software runs in the background, reading the screen to build a text-based record of a user’s activity, which users can then query. The tool is free to download and use, with paid plans starting from $20 per month. To protect user privacy, the software automatically ignores password managers and sensitive fields in web forms, and users can customize which applications the software ignores.

The startup’s approach directly contrasts with existing screen-recording tools. Competitors like Microsoft Recall, a Windows feature that records screen activity, and Rewind (now known as Limitless), a screen-recording AI tool, rely on capturing visual screenshots. Littlebird co-founder Alexander Green noted that storing only text makes the data lighter and less intrusive. “We don’t store any visual information. We only store text, which makes the data a lot lighter-weight. I think that was probably another reason that Recall and Rewind struggled, which is that taking a screenshot is a lot more data hungry. I also think it’s more invasive,” Green said.

Littlebird was founded in 2024 by Alap Shah, Naman Shah, and Alexander Green. Brothers Alap and Naman Shah previously co-founded Thistle, as well as Sentieo, which was sold to AlphaSense. The startup’s $11 million funding round was led by Lotus Studio, with participation from several individual investors, including:

• Lenny Rachitsky
• Scott Belsky
• Gokul Rajaram
• Justin Rosenstein
• Shawn Wang
• Russ Heddleston

The idea for the startup emerged from the limitations of existing AI models. According to Green, the project began when Alap Shah raised the issue that AI models lack personal user data, which limits their utility. The founders then began considering which user interface and operating system paradigms were ready to be disrupted by AI, which led to the creation of Littlebird. The company is now focused on identifying ‘killer’ use cases for the product as it rolls out.

Why it matters

Littlebird differentiates itself from competitors like Microsoft Recall and Rewind by prioritizing text-based data capture, which the founders argue is more efficient and less invasive than visual screenshots.