Kosmik interface boasts an infinite canvas, allowing users to incorporate text, images, videos, PDFs, and links
In the realm of creative tools aiming for an “infinite canvas” experience, French startup Kosmik is making waves with its unique knowledge-capturing tool. Founded in 2018 by Paul Rony and Christophe Van Deputte, the genesis of Kosmik stemmed from Rony’s desire for a unified space, akin to a whiteboard, where videos, PDFs, websites, notes, and drawings could seamlessly coexist without the need to toggle between different apps.
Rony, drawing on his background in computing history and philosophy, dedicated almost three years to develop Kosmik, ensuring baseline features like data encryption, offline-first mode, and a spatial canvas-based user interface. Notably, the platform leverages IPFS for a peer-to-peer collaboration experience, eschewing traditional server-based architecture.
Kosmik interface boasts an infinite canvas, allowing users to incorporate text, images, videos, PDFs, and links. A side panel facilitates the preview and extraction of elements from PDFs, while a built-in browser eliminates the need for window-switching when accessing relevant websites. Particularly useful for designers, architects, consultants, and students, Kosmik streamlines the process of creating information boards for diverse projects, catering to a range of media types.
The tool’s core strength lies in its ability to amalgamate various functions into one cohesive platform. As Paul Rony underscores, it’s not about having the best web browser, text editor, or PDF reader individually, but the power lies in bringing them together seamlessly.
Accessible via the web, Mac, and Windows, Kosmik offers a basic free tier with limitations on file size and storage. For expanded features, including unlimited elements and additional storage, a $5.99 monthly subscription is available, with plans for a future “pay-once” model for single-device users.
In a significant development, Kosmik recently secured $3.7 million in a seed round led by Creandum, with participation from Alven, Kima Ventures, Betaworks, and founders from Replit and Quizlet. Creandum’s Hanel Baveja sees potential in Kosmik disrupting organizational workflows akin to Notion and Miro but emphasizes the importance of immediate user value.
Timely for Kosmik, the funding coincides with the development of Kosmik 2.0, unifying codebases for a web-based app and streamlined desktop clients. This iteration will introduce features like multiplayer collaboration and AI-powered auto-tagging for images, enhancing the tool’s functionality.
Kosmik, with around 8,000 daily users since its March launch, faces competition in the personal whiteboard space. Berlin-based Deta and Sane are among the contenders, emphasizing the need for these startups to not only capture user attention but also prompt a shift towards a new paradigm in knowledge capturing.
