If Generative AI has exposed anything, it’s that the prevailing search experience is post peak.
Traditional search engines have long served as gateways to the internet for people looking for information, products and services, but as the volume and complexity of options has grown, this value has rapidly deteriorated. The experience is chaotic and ineffective, where ads and SEO take precedence over true personalization. The need for contextual, intelligent discovery is evident.
But when it comes to the evolution of search, we believe the future experience won’t look much like search at all. Rather, discovery will take the shape of tailored, dynamic services, where users can not only access information but interact with a highly personalized, actionable edit of what’s uniquely relevant to them. We imagine vertical-specific portals to the world of options: imagine a discovery platform that can book itineraries, style outfits, scrapbook research, turn a mosaic of health insights into tailored action plans, and present financial data in the context of personal realities and goals.
Our investment in Daydream marks an early iteration of this shift, where the diminishing value of search is eclipsed by personal, actionable discovery services. Daydream, which opened its waitlist yesterday ahead of launching later this year, is a new approach to shopping. Led by retail visionary Julie Bornstein, the Daydream founding team - including Matt Fisher, Lisa Yamner Green, Richard Kim, and Dan Cary - has spent over a decade operating at the intersection of commerce and AI, hailing from Microsoft AI, Google, YouTube’s Gen AI division, Sephora, Nordstrom, StitchFix, Farfetch and more.
We are pleased to share that we are leading the $50M seed funding alongside Index Ventures' Vlad Tenev and Danny Rimer, with participation from GV (Google Ventures)'s Frederique Dame and David Krane and True Ventures' Jon Callaghan.
Not only is Daydream poised to transform shopping, we believe it has the potential to inspire the new standard in how people seek out what they want.
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