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Cogram is an artificial intelligence platform designed for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. Founded in 2021 by Alexander von Boetticher and Ricardo Wolker, the company is headquartered in New York with additional offices in London and Berlin. Cogram uses large language models, speech recognition, and natural language processing to automate project documentation workflows, including meeting minutes, field reports, email management, RFI and submittal tracking, and AI-assisted project search. The platform integrates with major conferencing tools such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, and Webex, as well as construction management systems like Procore and Autodesk Construction Cloud. Cogram participated in Y Combinator's Winter 2022 batch and raised $5 million in seed funding led by Initialized Capital and Y Combinator. As of 2026, Cogram serves over 500 AEC firms worldwide with a team of approximately 15 employees.
Cogram was founded in 2021 by Alexander von Boetticher and Ricardo Wolker, both of whom came from academic research backgrounds in physics. Von Boetticher completed a PhD in theoretical physics at the University of Oxford, where he conducted research in plasma turbulence and magnetic confinement fusion at the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics. Wolker also studied at Oxford and worked at CERN, focusing on particle physics, before gaining software engineering experience at Rasa, a conversational AI company.
The company was originally conceived as a natural language interface for database queries. The initial product allowed non-technical users to ask questions in plain English, and Cogram would generate and execute the corresponding SQL query. The founding vision was "working toward a future in which humans can access and manipulate any data through natural language." The company was accepted into the Creative Destruction Lab, a nonprofit accelerator program based at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.
Cogram was accepted into Y Combinator's Winter 2022 (W22) batch, which validated the company's potential and provided early-stage mentorship and funding. The company's primary YC partner was Nicolas Dessaigne.
In April 2022, Cogram raised a $4.5 million seed round led by Initialized Capital and Y Combinator, with participation from Pioneer Fund VC, Global Founders Capital, Jovono, and Nuard Ventures. Including the $500,000 investment from Y Combinator, the company raised a total of $5 million across two seed rounds. The company is also backed by Elad Gil, a prominent angel investor known for early-stage investments in companies such as Perplexity, Mistral, and Harvey.
During 2022, Cogram launched its AI meeting notes product and secured its first enterprise customers. This marked the beginning of the company's pivot away from natural language database querying toward meeting documentation and productivity tools.
As Cogram developed its meeting documentation capabilities, the company identified the architecture, engineering, and construction industry as an underserved market with enormous documentation needs. AEC professionals spend a significant portion of their work hours on administrative tasks such as writing meeting minutes, filing project correspondence, drafting field reports, and managing RFIs (Requests for Information) and submittals. Cogram repositioned itself as a specialized AI platform for these professionals.
According to the company's published timeline, Cogram shipped major product updates every four weeks from its founding onward. Key milestones during this period include:
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| Q1 2022 | Investor backing secured |
| Q2-Q4 2022 | AI Meeting Notes launched; first enterprise customers onboarded |
| 2023 | Projects feature introduced; Audio Upload capability added |
| Q3 2024 | RFP Review feature launched |
| Late 2024 | Email Management, AI Assistant, Webex and Procore integrations, and automated workflows added |
By late 2024, Cogram had evolved from a single-purpose meeting transcription tool into a comprehensive AEC documentation platform with five core product modules.
By 2025, Cogram had grown to approximately 15 employees and reached $1.4 million in revenue over its first four years. The company expanded its office presence to New York (primary headquarters), London, Berlin, and Chicago, and was actively hiring for roles including Account Executive, Customer Support Engineer, Product Engineer, and Growth Lead.
The company established itself as a leading AI platform specifically tailored for AEC firms, differentiating itself from general-purpose meeting assistants such as Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai by focusing on the unique documentation requirements of architects, engineers, and construction professionals. Over 500 AEC firms adopted Cogram as their AI platform, including notable architecture and engineering practices.
Cogram's platform consists of five core product modules, each designed to automate a specific category of AEC documentation work.
Cogram's meeting minutes tool automatically records, transcribes, and documents meetings. The system captures spoken content and drafts minutes directly into firm-specific templates, eliminating the need for manual reformatting or copy-paste work. Key capabilities include:
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Automatic Transcription | Records and transcribes meetings in real time so participants can focus on discussion |
| Template Integration | Generates minutes in custom firm templates for consistent, professional output |
| Speaker Identification | Distinguishes between speakers, even in environments with background noise |
| Action Item Tracking | Extracts and assigns action items with responsible parties |
| User Control | Users choose which meetings to record and who receives the minutes; no aggressive auto-join behavior |
| Multilingual Support | Operates across 20+ languages for global teams |
| Custom Vocabulary | Adapts to team-specific business terminology over time |
The meeting minutes module supports virtual meetings on Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Webex, and Google Meet, as well as in-person meetings through the mobile app. Minutes are formatted according to customizable templates that can be tailored to each firm's documentation standards.
Cogram's AI Assistant serves as a project-wide knowledge retrieval tool. The assistant has context on a project's meetings, emails, RFIs, submittals, documents, and other correspondence, allowing users to search across all project data from a single interface.
| Capability | Description |
|---|---|
| Cross-Source Search | Finds information across meetings, emails, RFIs, submittals, and documents |
| Decision Tracking | Monitors decisions and action items to prevent delays and missed follow-ups |
| Report Drafting | Generates reports, status updates, and meeting summaries automatically |
| Context Awareness | Understands project-specific terminology and relationships between documents |
| Custom System Prompts | Organizations can configure system-wide prompts to standardize AI behavior |
| Permission Awareness | Respects existing role-based access controls so users only see authorized content |
The assistant is designed as a productivity tool for reducing the time AEC professionals spend searching for information scattered across multiple platforms and communication channels.
The field reports module enables on-site documentation through Cogram's mobile application. Construction site personnel can create reports using voice dictation, photographs, and other data inputs without returning to their desks.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Voice Dictation | Create field reports by speaking into the mobile app |
| Photo Capture | Attach site photographs with contextual notes |
| Geotagging | Automatically records location data for each report entry |
| Weather Logging | Captures weather conditions at the time of documentation |
| Template Automation | Drafts reports using custom templates for structured, consistent output |
| Speaker Recognition | Distinguishes between speakers even with loud background noise on construction sites |
The mobile app transcribes and summarizes on-site conversations, captures images, and automatically drafts field reports. All audio and video recordings are deleted immediately after transcription is complete; Cogram does not store recordings.
Cogram's email management module automates the filing and organization of project correspondence. Available as an Outlook add-in (compatible with Windows, macOS, and web), the tool uses AI to determine which project an email belongs to and files it, along with its attachments, into the correct project archive.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Automatic Filing | AI assigns incoming and outgoing emails to cloud-based project folders |
| Deep Search | AI-powered search through project emails and attachments |
| Shared Folders | Cloud-based project folders accessible to the entire team |
| Draft Responses | Generates draft email replies based on project context |
| Thread Summarization | Summarizes lengthy email threads for quick review |
The email management module integrates with both Microsoft Outlook and Gmail, and is available to users with a Cogram enterprise subscription.
Cogram provides a modern interface for managing Requests for Information (RFIs) and submittals, two of the most common documentation workflows in construction projects. The module features two-way sync with Procore, ensuring that data remains accessible even during Procore outages.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Kanban Organization | Organizes submissions by status categories: Received, With Consultants, In Our Court, and Issued |
| AI Triage | Automatically triages incoming submittals, cross-checks against specifications, and flags incomplete submissions |
| Two-Way Procore Sync | Maintains real-time synchronization with Procore without vendor lock-in |
| External Accounts | Provides accounts for subcontractors and co-consultants at no additional charge |
| Custom Templates | Supports standardized documentation formats for consistent output |
| Conflict Detection | AI flags conflicts and potential issues before human review |
According to Cogram, pilot projects using the RFI and submittal module have shown a 50% acceleration in review workflows compared to traditional processes.
Cogram's transcription capabilities are powered in part by Deepgram, a speech-to-text API provider. The platform converts spoken language to text in real time during both virtual and in-person meetings. The speech recognition system handles multiple speakers, varied accents, and challenging audio environments typical of construction sites.
Cogram leverages large language models for its AI Assistant, email summarization, report drafting, and submittal triage features. The company does not train its AI models on customer data, maintaining a strict separation between the language models and proprietary project information.
The platform uses natural language processing techniques for action item extraction, topic detection, document classification (for email filing), and cross-reference checking (for RFI and submittal review). These capabilities allow the system to understand the context and relationships within project documentation.
Cogram integrates with a broad range of tools used by AEC professionals:
| Category | Integrations |
|---|---|
| Video Conferencing | Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Webex, Google Meet |
| Microsoft Outlook, Gmail | |
| Project Management | Procore, Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) |
| ERP Systems | Deltek, Unanet |
| Calendar | Outlook Calendar, Google Calendar |
| Storage | Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox |
| Custom | API access for custom integrations |
The Procore integration is particularly notable for its two-way synchronization, which allows AEC teams to use Cogram's AI-powered interface while maintaining Procore as their system of record.
Cogram has invested heavily in enterprise security and compliance, which is critical for winning contracts with large AEC firms that handle sensitive project data.
| Security Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| SOC 2 Type II | Certified by an independent service auditor under AICPA standards |
| Encryption (At Rest) | AES-256 encryption for stored data |
| Encryption (In Transit) | TLS 1.3 for data in transit |
| Authentication | SAML-2.0 SSO and multi-factor authentication (MFA) |
| Access Controls | Role-based access controls (RBAC) |
| Data Privacy | No AI model training on customer data |
| GDPR | Compliant with EU data protection regulations |
| Deployment Options | Private cloud (Azure, AWS, Google Cloud) or on-premises deployment available |
| Data Retention | Customizable data retention policies |
| Audio/Video Storage | No recordings stored; deleted immediately after transcription |
These security features meet the requirements of enterprise IT departments and are particularly relevant for public sector clients and firms working on government projects.
As of 2026, Cogram offers two pricing plans:
| Plan | Price | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | $39/month | AI Assistant, Meeting Minutes, Field Reports; 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Team | Custom per-seat pricing | All Individual features plus Email Management, RFIs and Submittals, SSO, Integrations; modular pricing with floating licenses |
The Team plan uses modular pricing with floating licenses, meaning organizations pay only for the features their team actually uses. The pricing model is designed to accommodate firms of varying sizes, from small studios to large multinational practices.
Earlier sources from the Deepgram marketplace listed Cogram's pricing between $19 and $59 per user per month, though the current pricing structure reflects the company's evolution toward a more enterprise-focused model.
Cogram serves over 500 AEC firms globally. Notable customers include:
| Customer | Location | Industry |
|---|---|---|
| Alliiance | United States | Architecture |
| PBK Architects | United States | Architecture |
| TVS Design | United States | Architecture |
| IMEG | United States | Engineering |
| Kirksey Architecture | United States | Architecture |
| Corgan | United States | Architecture |
| CDH Partners (CDH Architecture) | Atlanta, United States | Architecture and Planning |
| JacobsWyper Architects | Philadelphia, United States | Architecture and Planning |
| KIRKOR Architects and Planners | Toronto, Canada | Architecture and Planning |
| DBM Vircon | International | Construction |
| Parkhill | United States | Engineering |
| Energyficient Systems | Burlington, United States | Engineering |
Several customers have shared their experiences with the platform:
Phil Hartzell, AIA, LEED AP, Principal for Technical Services at JacobsWyper Architects: "They were pretty blown away by the accuracy, the assigning of notes to the correct individuals and action item accuracy."
Jeremy McMartin, Director of Digital Practice at KIRKOR Architects and Planners: "When it comes to construction and buildings and architecture, there are just so many complexities. Cogram really allows us to focus on the client's perspective and then be able to recall that."
Mary Roberts, BIM Manager at CDH Partners: "We're trying to lean into AI, as safely as we can, so that we can stay competitive with the largest firms."
Byers Wolf, VP and Director of Engineering at Energyficient Systems: "All of these tools push us toward repeatability. Our customers should expect consistent, high-quality results every time, whether the project is in North Carolina, California, or anywhere in between."
According to company claims, Cogram users save an average of 10 or more hours per week on documentation tasks.
Cogram has raised a total of $5 million across two seed funding rounds:
| Round | Date | Amount | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Seed / YC | Winter 2022 | $500,000 | Y Combinator | Standard YC investment |
| Seed | April 30, 2022 | $4,500,000 | Initialized Capital, Y Combinator | Pioneer Fund VC, Global Founders Capital, Jovono, Nuard Ventures |
Additional backers include the Creative Destruction Lab and Elad Gil, a technology entrepreneur and investor. As of early 2026, the company has not announced a Series A round.
Alexander von Boetticher is the co-founder and CEO of Cogram. He holds a PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Oxford (2017 to 2021), where he conducted research at the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics. His academic work focused on plasma turbulence and magnetic confinement fusion. He also studied at the University of Cambridge. Von Boetticher pivoted from academic research to entrepreneurship with the goal of applying his understanding of complex systems to real-world industry problems in the AEC sector.
Ricardo Wolker is the co-founder of Cogram. He studied at the University of Oxford, the University of Manchester, and the University of Massachusetts. His research at Oxford and CERN focused on particle physics. Before co-founding Cogram, Wolker worked as a software engineer at Rasa, a Berlin-based company specializing in conversational AI and natural language understanding. His combined background in physics research and software engineering informed Cogram's technical development.
Cogram operates at the intersection of two markets: the AI meeting assistant market and the AEC-specific software market. Its competitive landscape includes both general-purpose meeting tools and construction technology platforms.
Cogram's meeting minutes module competes with general-purpose AI meeting assistants, though Cogram differentiates itself through AEC-specific features and templates.
| Competitor | Founded | Focus | Key Differentiator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otter.ai | 2016 | General meeting transcription | 25+ million users; $100M+ ARR; OtterPilot auto-join |
| Fireflies.ai | 2016 | General meeting transcription | 100+ language support; HIPAA-compliant; strong CRM integrations |
| Fathom | 2020 | General meeting transcription | Free AI notetaker; highest G2 rating |
| Krisp | 2017 | Meeting transcription with noise cancellation | Bot-free, on-device processing; AI noise cancellation |
General-purpose meeting assistants are designed for broad business use cases and typically lack the AEC-specific features that Cogram offers, such as custom meeting minute templates for architectural and engineering firms, field report generation, and RFI/submittal management.
Within the AEC technology space, Cogram competes with larger established platforms as well as the AI features being built into existing construction management tools.
| Competitor | Focus | Relationship with Cogram |
|---|---|---|
| Procore | Construction management platform | Integration partner; Cogram syncs with Procore for RFIs and submittals |
| Autodesk Construction Cloud | Construction documentation and BIM | Integration partner; Cogram connects with ACC |
| Procore Assist | AI features within Procore | Direct competitor for AI-powered construction documentation |
Cogram's primary competitive strengths include its deep specialization in AEC workflows, its ability to generate documentation in firm-specific templates, its comprehensive product suite that covers meetings, field reports, emails, and RFIs/submittals in a single platform, and its enterprise-grade security credentials. The company's small team and focused market positioning allow it to iterate quickly on features that matter to AEC professionals.
Cogram faces several competitive challenges. Larger general-purpose meeting assistants like Otter.ai have significantly more users, funding, and brand recognition. Platform incumbents such as Procore and Autodesk may expand their own AI capabilities to cover the documentation use cases that Cogram addresses. The company's relatively modest funding ($5 million total) limits its ability to scale compared to well-funded competitors.
The global construction industry represents one of the largest sectors of the world economy, yet it has historically been slow to adopt digital tools. The AEC documentation market includes billions of dollars in annual spending on project administration, meeting documentation, and correspondence management. According to industry estimates, AEC professionals spend a large fraction of their work hours on administrative documentation rather than billable design or engineering work.
The broader AI meeting assistant market was valued at approximately $1.8 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $17.3 billion by 2032, representing a compound annual growth rate of about 25.6%. Cogram's strategy of focusing on a specific vertical within this market allows it to build deep domain expertise while competing against the horizontal offerings of larger players.