US startup Simile has made an impressive leap in the venture market, announcing the raising of $200 million in a Series B funding round. Notably, this deal took place just five months after closing the previous Series A round of $100 million. As a result, the company's valuation has reached $2 billion, officially making the startup a 'unicorn'.
Technology of 'Synthetic Users'
Simile's main asset is its 'synthetic users' platform. Essentially, these are complex AI models capable of imitating human behavior. The company offers businesses a tool that allows them to conduct market research, test products, and evaluate user scenarios without the need to recruit live participants.
According to Simile's internal presentation, the project's long-term goal is to model human behavior as accurately as possible to solve practical business tasks. Such models become indispensable for testing product hypotheses and analyzing potential audience reactions at the very early stages of development.
From Academic Research to Business
The company's story began in 2025. Simile was founded by June Song Park, a PhD graduate of Stanford University. The commercial product was based on his scientific research titled 'Smallville'.
As part of this project, AI agents modeled the daily lives of virtual people. The algorithms reproduced processes of communication, decision-making, and interaction with each other. Today, Simile has transformed these academic developments into a ready-made tool for marketing and product teams, allowing companies to save resources and time on traditional focus groups.
