He said that everyone in a rainforest lives in a privileged acoustic space. “As a consequence, the soundscape of a rainforest can be an orchestra of information.” In a single frame and standing in one place, you can hear tens or thousands of pieces information. It’s all accessible, allowing you to extract so much from the environment.
Harper was the senior sound director for autonomous driving startup Zoox at the time (acquired in 2020 by Amazon). He was thinking about sound but he also thought about what this idea could look like visually.
Harper was struck by how limited screens can be. How little we can see all at once. How many tabs are you able to see at one time? I can only see two tabs at a time.
Harper said, “We can do much better than that.”
Harper founded the spatial filing system startup Soot. The company recently raised $7.2 million in a seed round led up by Upfront Ventures and including Michael Mente (cofounder and co-CEO of Revolve) and former Beats executive Omar Johnson. Village Global and Compound have provided pre-seed financing.
It’s hard to describe Soot unless you actually see it. Harper describes it as a “visualization tool that allows you to import and organize different files types, collaborate with AI and layer on creative AI to generate new content.” Fuller explained to me the term “vector database” as a “super organized filing system for data.”
Fuller said that instead of storing data in text or numbers, a vector database stores data as points on a large multidimensional surface. “Each bit of information is on a huge map.”
You’ve got to see it. (You can here). But seeing it also facilitates another question. What is the actual use case for this product? Mente, an investor in Soot, says that he sees uses for consumers and enterprises. The technology could be used as a browser interface to help customers like me who are always searching for specific clothing (in my case, I’m looking for a blazer). Mente suggests that Soot’s technology could be used to organize an organization with visual products.
“Seeing value from both sides” is exciting, says Mente who cofounded the online fashion giant Revolve in 2003. “Companies tend to focus on either one side or the opposite.”
Jefferson Hack, the cofounder of Dazed Media, is one of Soot’s first customers. Hack will use Soot for an AI-powered search in the digital version of Dazed Media’s magazine. He expects to roll out “first explorations” this autumn, according to Fortune.
Hack stated that he was personally excited about what Soot’s technology can do for creators with large archives, and how it will help engage their fans in a deeper and enhanced discovery. He also noted that he believed Soot’s technology can be applied to a variety of different aspects of digital content and media distribution, including online shopping, museums, and cultural institutions.
I’ve played around with various Soot interfaces. From those with Pokemon (I was instantly drawn to the water Pokemon), to photography (I love negative space), to clothes. Even though I found the interface intuitive I thought it was just for fun. That is, until I saw a dress that I was ready to buy.
Fuller said that having assets in this format makes logical sense. “I instantly thought, ‘This is the future’.”
Soot is the perfect solution for this. No more endless page-scrolling. Just a visual interface where you can follow your instincts and gravitate towards the things you find most fascinating. It turns out that it’s similar to those rainforest sounds: Your eyes can find what they want in a sea full of images.
In the event you missed it…Ilya Sukseker, who cofounded OpenAI, but left the company last May, has launched a brand new company called Safe Superintelligence or SSI, with Daniel Levy & Daniel Gross.
See you tomorrow
Allie Garfinkle
Twitter: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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Joe Abrams has curated the deals section in today’s newsletter.
VENTURE DEALS
Vecna Robotics is a Waltham-based company that provides self-driving robots, pallet jacks and other robots. The company raised $100 million from Tiger Global Management and Proficio Capital Partners in its Series C funding.
GrayMatter Robotics in Gardena, Calif., which develops autonomous robots for manufacturing has raised $45 million Series B funding. Wellington Management led the round, which was also joined by NGP Capital and Euclidean Capital. Advance Venture Partners and SQN Venture Partners were also involved.
PQShield is a cybersecurity company based in Oxford, U.K., that raised $37 million as part of its Series B funding. Addition led the round, which was also joined by Chevron Technology Ventures and Legal & General.
LD Carbon, a company based in Seoul, South Korea, that creates eco-friendly products from old tires, has raised $28 million as Series C funding. Woven Capital led this round, which was also joined by Meritz Securities and Investwith.
Tandem Health, an AI copilots developer based in Sweden, raised $9.5M in seed funding. Northzone led the round, and was joined by Amino Collective, angel investors and Northzone.
Hark, an online platform for customer feedback based in New York City, has raised $3.5 million as seed funding. Oceans Ventures led this round, which was also joined by Converge VC and Atman Capital.
PRIVATE EQUALITY
– Riverpoint Medical acquired CP Medical of Norcross, Ga., a manufacturer of surgical and animal wound closure devices. The financial terms were not disclosed.
OTHER
Workiva (NYSE WK) has acquired Sustain.Life a carbon accounting platform based in New York City. The financial terms were not disclosed.