Greenoaks vs M13

Coupang dispute raises U.S. tariff pressure on South Korea

A Republican-led House Judiciary report alleges the South Korean government mounted a targeted campaign against U.S.-headquartered Coupang after a 2025 data breach, prompting calls from some U.S. lawmakers and investors for formal trade investigations and potential tariffs. South Korea disputes the report, defends its actions and the scale of the breach, and says it has engaged with U.S. officials. Investors including Greenoaks and Altimeter urged the U.S. Trade Representative to open a Section 301 probe. The dispute comes amid broader U.S.-South Korea tensions over trade commitments, security cooperation and earlier tariff actions.

• House Judiciary Committee Republicans released a report alleging the South Korean government waged a targeted offensive against Coupang following a data breach.
• South Korea levied a 625 billion won (about $409 million) data-privacy fine on Coupang; Seoul says the breach affected 37.55 million people.
• Investors Greenoaks Capital Partners and Altimeter Capital petitioned the U.S. Trade Representative in January to open a Section 301 investigation into South Korea over its treatment of Coupang.

Simile AI: Behavioral Simulation and Scaling Laws

This podcast episode with Simile co-founder and CEO Joon Sung Park explores the company’s work building behavioral foundation models and synthetic populations for simulation. The discussion covers Simile’s methodology (interviews, transaction/observational data, randomized controlled trials, and post-training on causal mechanisms), validated research (a 1,000-person study where digital twins reproduced human behavior ~85% as accurately as the original humans), enterprise use cases (tens of millions of simulations for Fortune 100 clients like CVS), and the broader ambition to scale multi-agent simulations toward society-scale models. The episode also mentions Simile’s recent Series B at a $2B valuation and funding/backers reported in coverage.

• Simile AI is reported to have a Series B at a $2 billion valuation.
• Simile runs tens of millions of simulations for enterprise customers, including Fortune 100 clients like CVS.
• In a representatively sampled 1,000-person study, Simile’s digital twins reproduced human behavior and attitudes about 85% as accurately as the original humans reproduced their own responses.

Simile Raises $200M Series B at $2B Valuation

Simile, a startup that builds synthetic/simulated users for marketing and product research, raised $200 million in a Series B at a $2 billion valuation. The round, announced July 30, 2026, was led by Greenoaks with participation from Index Ventures, Hanabi, Bain Capital Ventures, A*, Factory, Definition and CVS Health Ventures. The raise comes five months after Simile's $100 million Series A led by Index. Simile was founded by Joon Sung Park and counts CVS among its customers. The company positions its technology as a way to simulate user behavior for research and product testing, attracting growing VC interest in the synthetic-user market.

• Simile closed a $200 million Series B at a $2 billion valuation (announced 2026-07-30).
• The Series B was led by Greenoaks with participation from Index, Hanabi, Bain Capital Ventures, A*, Factory, Definition and CVS Health Ventures.
• The raise comes five months after Simile announced a $100 million Series A led by Index Ventures.

What Is Agentic Identity? Meet Baselayer, the Identity Infrastructure for AI Agents

M13 announces fundraising for Baselayer, an identity infrastructure for AI agents, with a dedicated article published on September 22, 2026.

Investors Are Betting on AI Agents That Shop for You

Venture capitalists are increasingly funding startups building AI agents that can shop on behalf of consumers and handle payments. The article maps the emerging market for "agentic commerce," covering personal assistants like Instinct and Town, shopping search tools like Daydream, payment infrastructure startups like Catena Labs and Basis Theory, and marketing tech such as Profound. Major platforms are also moving: OpenAI and Stripe launched the Agentic Commerce Protocol, Google operates the Agent Payments Protocol, and Visa and Mastercard introduced Trusted Agent Protocol and Agent Pay. However, the space faces trust and fraud challenges, illustrated by Phia's cookie-stuffing scandal and an Instinct agent error that cost a user around $300. Investor interest remains strong, with millions raised across the sector, even as enterprise adoption lags due to compliance and security concerns.

• Adobe Analytics reported that 41% of respondents used AI for online shopping in June 2026.
• OpenAI and Stripe launched the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), while Google operates the Agent Payments Protocol.
• Profound raised $96 million in Series C funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.