Call a Paris-based startup Capsule wants to change the way users search for their daily news. Rather than offering a typical news aggregator experience, Capsule’s mission is to become the “Spotify for news” by combining AI technology and human editorial curation to deliver a news reading experience that transforms news articles, newsletter excerpts, and even tweets (posts on X). and other social media updates, in digestible information through its user-friendly app.
The experience of using Capsule, meanwhile, is a lot like swiping through TikTok or other social apps in some ways. The app uses a vertical scrolling feed where news is presented as a series of headlines with accompanying photos or screenshots of posts on platforms like X and LinkedIn. You can tap on any of these headlines to read a summary of the news, then optionally tap the news source link in the top left corner to read the full article (or social media post) directly on their website publisher.
The idea for the app comes from co-founders Jérôme Boé and Arthur de Villemandy. Boé previously developed a smart short-form video app called Snax, which he later had to shut down due to operating costs exceeding returns, he says. Co-founder de Villemandy, meanwhile, had previously written a newsletter called ‘Magma’ which focused on business trends and ideas.
Image Credits: Capsule
Boé explains that the inspiration for their new company was to find a way to make quality news more accessible by relying on a network of editors. Later, the company plans to organize the world of news and information the way Spotify organizes music by creating news “playlists” and adding recommendations.
“Capsule isn’t trying to be another Google News-style aggregator,” Boé tells TechCrunch. “It’s more than just clicking on a source. Think of it as a starting point where we dive deeper. We research, cross-reference and enter additional data to give users a more complete picture. It’s like a mini-newsletter, full of clickable links, images and interactives are just around the corner,” he says.
The company leverages artificial intelligence to distill key information or key information from an article. Capsule’s editorial team then adds to these ideas with additional research. Capsule currently employs a team of 10 freelancers from around the world for this effort. These editors are described by the company as “enthusiastic readers with a unique perspective.” They’re also tasked with building the app with new content, an area where Boé says “AI isn’t cutting it.”
Image Credits: Capsule
“It takes a nuanced, subjective approach to see if something fits our editorial ethos of trends and ideas for today’s leaders,” he explains. “We focus exclusively on the quality and relevance of content, deliberately avoiding other metrics such as social shares or likes.”
Curators’ news findings are also sourced and verified by Capsule’s editorial team, who then present the news in the app in an easy-to-digest format. Each day, around 20 to 30 featured insights are added to the Capsule, highlighting things like important news, strong trends and even weaker signals.
AI is also used to help curate relevant news. Under Articles in Capsule, users will find a selection of similar news. This helps enhance the “depth and breadth” of their reading experience, Boé says.
Unlike other modern news sharing apps such as Artifact, Capsule has no current restrictions on the sources of news that may appear in its feed. So far, the app has already leveraged more than 400 news sources, the company notes.
For now, Capsule’s four-person team is running the startup, but they’re considering a freemium model in the future if Capsule is able to perfect the user experience and find traction, Boé says.
The application is currently free download on ios.
