Index Ventures is a venture capital firm which helps entrepreneurs turn bold ideas into global businesses.

Index Ventures

At Forerunner, we believe in a better way to invest. We’re a venture capital firm focused on understanding the mindset of the modern consumer and identifying the people poised to deliver what they need. We believe that when entrepreneurs are poised to meet consumers not just where they are today but where they’re going to be tomorrow, they become more than just founders — they’re forerunners. By supporting them with funding, strategic wisdom, and consumer insight — our “CQ” — we help transform industries and drive culture forward.    We’re a San Francisco-based team of veterans and visionaries from multiple disciplines. What unites us is a shared belief that “good enough” just isn’t good enough. We’ve used our combined expertise to support trailblazing brands like Dollar Shave Club, Warby Parker, Hims & Hers, and dozens more.

Forerunner

Alumni Ventures Group provides high-quality, diversified venture portfolios to individual investors who previously haven't had access to VC. It helps accredited alums from top entrepreneurial schools invest together in the ventures of fellow alums. The firm backs companies with an alumni connection and an institutional lead investor with expertise in the space. AVG also offers focused funds that allow any accredited investor access to a venture portfolio, diversified by type, sector, stage, and geography. Beth Obermiller, Michael Madden, and Mike Collins co-founded the firm in Manchester, New Hampshire in 2013.

Alumni Ventures

Google Ventures invests in sectors including life sciences, consumer, enterprise, crypto, climate, and frontier technology. With Alphabet as its sole limited partner, Google Ventures focuses on long-term investments. Its operating partners assist startups in design, equity, diversity & inclusion, talent, and engineering and help them connect with Google for technology and expertise. Founded in 2009 as Google Ventures, Google Ventures manages over $8 billion in assets with 400 active portfolio companies in North America and Europe. Some notable investments include Uber, Nest, Slack, GitLab, and One Medical. Google Ventures is based in the San Francisco Bay Area with offices in Cambridge, New York, and London.

Google Ventures

Founded in 2005, True Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology startups. With more than $3.8 billion under management, True provides seed and Series A financing to entrepreneurs in some of today's growing markets.  With more than 40 team members including special advisors, operations professionals, and founders-turned-investors, True represents one of the largest and most experienced teams dedicated to the ecosystem.  The True team believes creativity flourishes when founders are supported fully and empowered to pursue brave ideas. To that end, the True Platform offers programs that inspire professional and personal growth. To date, True has helped more than 350 companies launch and scale their businesses, creating over 85,000 jobs worldwide.  True was awarded Venture Firm of the Year by the National Venture Capital Association in 2018. To learn more, visit www.trueventures.com.

True Ventures

Daydream

Daydream focuses on providing personalized shopping results through generative AI, machine learning, and computer vision.

Daydream is an AI-powered conversational shopping platform that transforms online product discovery and search. The platform leverages generative AI, machine learning, and computer vision technology to enable natural language search queries and image recognition capabilities for finding fashion items. Users can describe what they're looking for in conversational language or upload images with specific requirements to receive personalized product recommendations. The platform aims to move beyond traditional keyword-based search to provide an intuitive shopping experience. The technology allows shoppers to make detailed queries such as requesting outfits for specific occasions or locations, and even search for variations of items they like with different attributes.

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Incorporating technology into the fast-moving world of fashion

Fashion Tech

Daydream is an AI-powered conversational shopping platform that transforms online product discovery and search. The platform leverages generative AI, machine learning, and computer vision technology to enable natural language search queries and image recognition capabilities for finding fashion items. Users can describe what they're looking for in conversational language or upload images with specific requirements to receive personalized product recommendations. The platform aims to move beyond traditional keyword-based search to provide an intuitive shopping experience. The technology allows shoppers to make detailed queries such as requesting outfits for specific occasions or locations, and even search for variations of items they like with different attributes.
The platform focuses on women's and men's fashion as its first shopping category. Rather than fulfilling orders directly, Daydream operates as a shopping layer that generates revenue through commissions on sales. The company's technology provides access to what it describes as the largest high-quality branded fashion catalog available.
Key customers and partnerships
As of June 2024, Daydream has established partnerships with approximately 2,000 brands and retailers, including notable names such as Net-A-Porter, Altuzarra, Jimmy Choo, Doen, Everlane, Alo Yoga, and La DoubleJ. The platform aggregates products from both multi-brand and mono-brand retailers in its catalog.

NTX provides innovative textile coloration solutions through its flagship product, Cooltrans. Launched in 2020, Cooltrans is a waterless textile coloration system that can process almost any textile material without heat and achieves a 90% reduction in water usage compared to traditional methods. The technology delivers precise color outcomes while preserving fabric texture and functional performance. Compatible with natural, man-made, and synthetic fibers (except polypropylene), including high power-stretch materials, the system operates on a cost-neutral basis.
Key customers and partnerships
The company established a strategic alliance with Ananta Group and partnered with Stella Blu, a product division of Prosperity Textiles, which implemented NTX's Cooltrans technology with panel printing at its manufacturing facility in China. In this collaboration, both companies aim to apply their expertise beyond denim to other cotton twill-like fabrics.

True Fit provides AI-powered sizing technology for apparel and footwear brands, helping solve online fit challenges for retailers. The company's technology decodes size and fit for consumers through its Fashion Genome, a structured data set that connects detailed garment specifications and style attributes to individual shopping behaviors. The platform deploys algorithms to translate how shoes and clothing fit shoppers viewing them online, removing sizing uncertainty in digital shopping. True Fit's technology encompasses men's wear, women's wear, kids' wear, unisex apparel, footwear, swim, and structured intimates categories. The company's solution includes the Fit Hub, which uses generative AI to enhance the online shopping experience.
The platform provides retailers with a dashboard of insights to drive personalization and growth. Through its Fashion Genome database, True Fit combines decades of expertise in fashion, retail technology, and data science to create detailed understanding of product specifications, from dimensions and color to materials and design details.
Key customers and partnerships
True Fit's technology serves 82 million consumers, tens of thousands of brands, and hundreds of retailers globally. The company formed partnerships with Princess Polly and Lucy & Yak to provide AI size recommendations. In 2024, True Fit partnered with Shopify to integrate its AI fit personalization technology into the Shopify platform, enabling merchants to connect their brands to True Fit's Fashion Genome. Through this partnership, True Fit has already supported fashion brands including Few Moda, Greyson, Toast, and Dia & Co.

True Fit

unspun is a fashion tech company that has developed Vega, the world's first 3D weaving technology for apparel manufacturing. The technology efficiently transforms thousands of yarns into garments in minutes, enabling almost zero-waste, on-demand manufacturing. The Vega system drastically shortens supply chains and lead times, allowing traditional cut-make-trim facilities to vertically integrate operations. The process is four times faster than conventional methods, achieving a 53% emissions reduction, 49% reduced energy demand, and 39% reduced blue water consumption. The technology generates less than 3% cut waste compared to the industry average of 15%. The Vega machines can create woven garments using almost any yarn, with the current generation focused on producing bottoms, bags, and hats. Future generations of the machines will expand into performance categories, outerwear, shoes, tops, and dresses. The company is also developing circular supply chain applications that will allow garments to be unspun back into yarns and re-woven into new products.
Through its microfactory model, unspun aims to eliminate the need for large order quantities while decreasing transportation emissions and lead times. The company operates a microfactory in Oakland, California, where it has demonstrated the commercial viability of its technology through low-volume production with proven third-party lifecycle assessments
Key customers and partnerships
unspun has secured multi-year agreements with Walmart to deploy its Vega machines for localized production in both North America and Europe. The company partnered with fashion label Eckhaus Latta to introduce the first-ever 3D woven collection at New York Fashion Week, with products now available online and in stores globally. In October 2024, unspun formed a strategic partnership with DECATHLON Pulse, the investment arm of global sports brand DECATHLON, to deploy its 3D weaving technology across Europe through 2030. The company has also collaborated with designer Ana Kraš' lifestyle brand Teget and has worked with brands including Collina Strada, Pangaia, and H&M-owned Weekday

Unspun

Stitch Fix operates as an online personal styling service that combines data science and human expertise to provide personalized clothing recommendations. The company's platform uses algorithms and machine learning to analyze customer preferences through an initial style quiz that captures data on size, fit, and style preferences. Based on this data, Stitch Fix sends customers a curated box of five clothing items and accessories selected from thousands of partner brands, with prices typically ranging from USD 28 to USD 500 for adult items. The company employs a hybrid model where algorithms generate initial recommendations, which are then refined by human stylists before items are shipped to customers. Each delivery incurs a USD 20 styling fee that is credited toward any purchases, and customers receive a 25% discount if they keep all items in their box.
The company's technology infrastructure includes three main components: Foundry for corporate clients, Gotham for government and intelligence customers, and Apollo, their cloud-based scalable platform. As of January 2024, Stitch Fix's revenue has faced challenges, with Q1 net revenues declining 17.8% year over year to USD 364.8 million. In February 2024, the company launched Style Tune Ups in partnership with Spotify, offering personalized outfit recommendations based on music preferences and their 2024 Style Forecast report data.
Key customers and partnerships
Stitch Fix partners with thousands of clothing brands to source its inventory. The company entered a notable partnership with Spotify in February 2024 to launch Style Tune Ups, which combines style recommendations with personalized music playlists. According to their trend report data, nearly four in five of their clients take outfit inspiration from their favorite artists.

Stitch Fix

Katana provides cloud-based manufacturing ERP software that helps businesses manage their inventory, production, and sales processes. The platform offers real-time inventory tracking across multiple locations, production planning, manufacturing execution systems, and shop floor control capabilities. Users can manage orders, raw materials, finished products, production recipes, and stock levels through a unified system. The software enables companies to create multilevel bills of materials with subassemblies for accurate costing and make pricing decisions based on product margins. The platform's manufacturing execution system synchronizes inventory and sales across all channels while prioritizing task lists for production line operators. According to company data, businesses using Katana experienced 60% higher sales year over year and a 1.2x increase in inventory turnover. The software implementation typically takes six weeks compared to 6-12 months for traditional ERPs.
The platform operates on a subscription model with pricing starting at USD 179 per month for the Starter plan with one inventory location, USD 359 per month for the Standard plan with three inventory locations, USD 799 per month for the Professional plan with up to 10 inventory locations, and USD 1,799 per month for the Professional Plus plan.
Key customers and partnerships
Katana serves various industries including apparel, electronics, food, and aerospace manufacturers, primarily targeting small to mid-sized businesses. Notable customers include IDC Componentes, Walk With Me, Buttercream Clothing, and Puppy Cake. The platform integrates with several business tools including Shopify, WooCommerce, Xero, QuickBooks Online, Zapier, and Integromat to provide unified business operations.

Katana

Companies that use technology to capture user's sizes to create custom clothing on-demand.

Platforms that help provide style and outfit recommendations to customers based on their preferences. These are typically provided via apps and are used for recommendation purposes only.

Online platforms that help retailers and manufacturers enable their customers to virtually try on apparel.

Platforms and systems that track trends and data for both fashion brands and retailers to optimize operations.

Platforms that help apparel manufacturers disrupt traditional manufacturing and inventory practices through innovation through processes such as 3D printing.

Providers occasionally incorporate Generative AI into their services to help out with functions such as generating style/outfit suggestions

Some providers use digital twin technology for virtual fitting rooms

Some providers use apps or web portals to offer apparel products and style/outfit suggestions

Some providers offer AR-based virtual fitting rooms to help sell clothing to customers

Providers offer custom clothing and style suggestions based on individual preferences and requirements of customers

Some providers offer newer production methodologies that incorporate emerging technology and industry 4.0 to revolutionize traditional apparel manufacturing processes

Daydream

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