Anytype
12 known investors
Anytype is a privacy-focused collaboration and workspace platform that allows users to organize information, communicate, and create content with local-first encryption and offline functionality. The platform serves individuals and teams seeking private, decentralized alternatives to cloud-based productivity tools.
Also known as Any Association · anyproto · Anytype — The Everything App
Founders & leadership
Investors · 12
Also in the syndicate · 10
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements$13.4M disclosed across 1 of 2 rounds · 2023
- $13.4MraisedAug 2023 · 4 sourcesSource ↗
Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Anytype develops a local-first, peer-to-peer and end-to-end encrypted personal knowledge base and workspace application, described by the company as a "knowledge OS" and "everything app." Users assemble content from composable blocks — text, databases, kanban boards, calendars and user-defined object Types — to create pages, tasks, wikis, journals, notes, project boards, research databases and bookmark libraries. Data is stored on the user's device and synchronised across devices either through end-to-end encrypted sync, direct peer-to-peer sync over a local network, or a self-hosted network, so the application also works fully offline.
The product line includes a desktop client for macOS, Windows and Linux (built with Electron and TypeScript, distributed via download.anytype.io and GitHub releases), an Android app, and a web clipper browser extension for Chromium and Firefox. Collaboration features include shared spaces for teams and families, integrated chat both between users and on individual documents, and web publishing so content can be viewed in a browser. Zero-knowledge encryption is provided by the company's any-sync component, and the client is extensible through a gRPC API and AI "agents." Code is published on GitHub under the anyproto organisation using the Any Source Available License 1.0; the company also emphasises Markdown export and the absence of vendor lock-in.
Anytype maintains a public community forum (community.anytype.io) with categories for news, help, bug reports, feature requests and general discussion, and states that development priorities are set by the most-requested community features.
Founding story
Anytype was founded in early 2018 by Zhanna (Janna) Sharipova and Anton Pronkin around the premise that software should encode fundamental digital freedoms — privacy of thought, freedom of speech, right to authorship and autonomy from software providers — into its architecture using cryptography and a peer-to-peer stack. Co-founder Sharipova has said the team's earlier experience showed that people adopt products rather than protocols, leading Anytype to pair no-code tools with a decentralised architecture so creators and communities can build on their own terms.
Business model
Anytype distributes client software for desktop and mobile that stores data locally on user devices, with optional encrypted sync, peer-to-peer sync, or self-hosted networks. The Android listing indicates in-app purchases and a separate "Anytype for Business" offering. Because the platform is self-hostable and end-to-end encrypted, press coverage noted that the company's monetisation differs from conventional cloud-service models.
In-app purchases are offered in the Android app, and a business-oriented offering ("Anytype for Business") is listed alongside the consumer app.
Traction
The company reported working with over 30,000 people during its alpha release and a waitlist of more than 75,000 for its beta, reaching a community of more than 100,000 users by August 2023. The Android app shows over 100,000 downloads and a 4.4 rating across about 1,150 reviews. The desktop client repository has roughly 8,700 GitHub stars and 577 forks, and the community forum hosts several thousand topics across news, help, bug report, feature request and discussion categories.
Latest developments
Recent Android releases addressed object type and space name display at large font sizes, editor reliability (mentions, link pasting, typing performance), tag picker behaviour, gallery card rendering, a mention-related memory leak, and an update to the latest protocol version. Company blog posts reference a first Town Hall of the year alongside a major desktop release, and a letter from co-founder Anton Pronkin on Anytype's history and annual priorities.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Anytype operates in the note-taking and personal knowledge management category, where user reviews compare it with Obsidian and describe its editor as Notion-style while being local-first. Press coverage in 2023 characterised it as part of a group of emerging decentralised-web solutions and noted it was still distant from mass adoption, partly because concepts such as Sets and Collections require a learning curve.
Anytype positions itself against cloud-hosted productivity tools by keeping data on the user's device under end-to-end encryption, supporting full offline use and peer-to-peer or self-hosted sync, publishing its source code, and offering Markdown export to avoid vendor lock-in. Users can define their own data model through custom object Types rather than working within fixed templates.
Technology
The stack is local-first: data is stored on-device and encrypted end-to-end, with zero-knowledge encryption provided by the company's any-sync component and optional peer-to-peer synchronisation over local networks or self-hosted infrastructure. The desktop client (anytype-ts) is built with Electron and TypeScript, using Vite, Bun and a Go-based core engine (anytype-heart, referred to as middleware) that exposes protobuf/gRPC bindings; the client is extensible via a gRPC API and AI agents. A web clipper extension supports Chromium and Firefox manifests. Source code is published under the Any Source Available License 1.0.
Go-to-market
Anytype distributes its desktop client through its own download site and GitHub releases, its mobile app through Google Play, and a web clipper through browser extension stores. Growth has been community-led, via a public forum where users submit and vote on feature requests, alpha and beta waitlists, and open publication of source code inviting outside contributors.
Individuals building personal knowledge bases and journals, as well as teams and families using shared spaces; during its alpha the company worked with users across professions including software developers, students, nurses, city planners, pharmacists, nuns and police.
Geography
Press coverage in 2023 described Anytype as Berlin-based. The Android developer entry lists Any Association at Gubelstrasse 11, 6300 Zug, Switzerland, with a Swiss telephone contact.
History
Founded in early 2018, Anytype ran an alpha release involving more than 30,000 participants and built a beta waitlist exceeding 75,000 people. In August 2023, more than four years after starting, the company announced a $13.4 million funding round and said it would focus on multiplayer and sharing features, wider contributor participation and product UX. Subsequent development added shared spaces, integrated chat, web publishing and mobile clients, with the Android app updated as of August 2026.
Risks & controversies
User reviews on Google Play report that the mobile app offers less capable property and layout configuration than the desktop client, requiring workarounds such as templates, and request more advanced filtering with logical operators. Press coverage noted that the product's terminology and data concepts present an adoption barrier and that a self-hosted, end-to-end encrypted model constrains conventional revenue generation.
Compiled by commissioned research from 6 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 3
launches, deals, and filingsAn update to the Anytype Android app addressed clipped object types and space names at large font sizes, mention and paste-link reliability in the editor, tag picker behaviour, gallery card sizing and borders, a mention-related memory leak, and updated to the latest protocol.
Anytype announced a $13.4 million funding round led by Balderton Capital with participation from Inflection, Square One, Script Capital, Protocol Labs, Connect Ventures, New Forge, Foreword VC and web3 angel investors. The company said the round was oversubscribed four times and that proceeds would fund multiplayer and sharing features, contributor participation and UX work.
$13.4M source ↗
As part of the $13.4M round, Colin Hanna from Balderton Capital joined the board of Anytype's organisation.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 6
primary sources listed
- GitHub - anyproto/anytype-ts: Official Anytype client for MacOS, Linux, and Windows · GitHubgithub.com · web
6 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Anytype do?
- Anytype builds a local-first, end-to-end encrypted knowledge and collaboration app for desktop and mobile.
- Who founded Anytype?
- Anytype was founded by Janna Sharipova, Anton Pronkin.
- Who are Anytype's investors?
- Anytype's investors include Script Capital, Balderton Capital.
- How much funding has Anytype raised?
- Anytype has disclosed $13.4M raised across 1 of its 2 known rounds.