July 4, 2025

The Download: India’s AI independence, and predicting future epidemics

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Inside India’s scramble for AI independence Despite its status as a global tech hub, India lags far behind the likes of the US and China when it comes to homegrown AI. That gap…

Technology

Korean fashion platform Musinsa bags $190M Series C led by KKR at a $2.7B valuation

July 19, 2023
Musinsa, a Seoul-based fashion marketplace, said Wednesday it has raised a $190 million round of Series C funding led by KKR, with participation from Wellington Management.  The new capital put Musinsa’s valuation at approximately $2.76 billion (more than 3 trillion won), per sources familiar with the situation. The Korean fashion e-commerce startup declined to provide […]

Forerunner Ventures sees a future full of “digitally native franchises”

July 19, 2023
Forerunner Ventures made its name in the venture world by betting on once-nascent startups like Jet, Bonobos and Glossier when it was far easier to build a digitally native brand than today. But as commerce has evolved, so has the firm. As part of that evolution, Forerunner five years ago brought aboard veteran VC Brian […]

Meta launches an AI research community, but devotes few resources to it

July 18, 2023
Angling to stay relevant in the exploding AI field, Meta is launching a new organization, the Open Innovation AI Research Community, to foster what it describes as “transparency, innovation and collaboration” among AI researchers. Initially, the focus of the group will be the privacy, safety and security of large language models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT; […]

What to do when customers say yes but VCs say no with Catherine Tabor from Sparkly

July 18, 2023
Welcome back to Found, where we get the stories behind the startups. This week Becca and Dom are joined by Catherine Tabor, the founder and CEO of Sparkfly, a company that helps brands with marketing and customer engagement. Tabor talked about building a company fluid enough to adapt to changing technology trends over the last […]

Accelerating retail personalization at scale

July 18, 2023
Today’s retailers are faced with a clear opportunity for transformation. Consumer expectations are constantly evolving, challenging retailers to keep pace. A blend of online and in-person shopping forged during the pandemic persists, forcing retailers to deliver a highly personalized omnichannel experience. And retailers’ values are becoming as important to consumers as their products and services.…

Meta’s latest AI model is free for all 

July 18, 2023
Meta is going all in on open-source AI. The company is today unveiling LLaMA 2, its first large language model that’s available for anyone to use—for free.  Since OpenAI released its hugely popular AI chatbot ChatGPT last November, tech companies have been racing to release models in hopes of overthrowing its supremacy. Meta has been…