Liner has raised $36.1 million in Series C funding to expand its AI research and agent platform as the company moves deeper into enterprise AI while continuing to grow its global consumer business. LB Investment led the round, with follow-on participation from existing investors InterVest, Atinum Investment and CJ Investment. New investors included Korea Development Bank, KB Securities, Daishin Securities, STIC Ventures and Helios Private Equity.
The financing brings Liner’s total cumulative funding to approximately $64.3 million.
The Series C comes roughly one year and 10 months after Liner’s previous financing and follows the company’s expansion from consumer-focused AI tools into enterprise applications.
Liner has more than 14 million registered users across approximately 220 countries, including the U.S., Europe, India and Southeast Asia.
As of late July 2026, the company ranked No. 30 globally among AI services by web traffic according to Similarweb.
Liner said that position placed it ahead of AI services including Poe, Mistral AI and Glean.
The company has also appeared on Andreessen Horowitz’s Top 100 GenAI Consumer Apps list for four consecutive editions since 2024.
Liner’s product portfolio has expanded beyond its core AI research experience into a group of specialized agents.
Liner Scholar targets academic research, Liner Write is designed for business use and Liner Finance focuses on investment research.
The company has emphasized product-led growth, building its user base without relying heavily on aggressive marketing spending.
Liner said its technology achieved a score of 95.3 on OpenAI’s SimpleQA benchmark for factual accuracy and outperformed GPT-4 in search-response generation.
Its AI platform is built around evidence-backed research and source traceability, allowing users to verify claims and evaluate the information behind generated answers.
Beyond consumer applications, Liner is using its user data and academic database containing more than 500 million records to build enterprise AI capabilities.
One example is its relationship with HUMAIN, the Saudi Arabian state-backed AI company chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Liner supplied its deep research-powered AI search engine for HUMAIN ONE, an integrated platform intended for use by Saudi government ministries and major companies.
According to Liner, HUMAIN selected its technology following benchmarking against offerings from global technology companies.
The partnership illustrates Liner’s broader strategy of adapting its search and agent capabilities for large enterprise and institutional customers.
Liner was founded and is led by CEO Luke Kim.
The company plans to use the Series C funding primarily for research and development, infrastructure expansion and continued development of its core AI technologies.
Liner also intends to invest in recruiting global talent, business expansion and more efficient marketing.
A major focus will be strengthening the company’s position in enterprise AI transformation markets both in South Korea and internationally.
The company also plans to diversify monetization across its consumer products while adapting its agent technology for additional domestic use cases.
Liner previously raised approximately $17.3 million in its Series B2 round in October 2024.
That followed a $7.07 million Series B in 2022, a $3.2 million Series A in 2020 and approximately $640,000 in angel financing.
KEY QUOTES:
“Liner now serves 14 million users, ranks No. 30 globally in AI web traffic, has deployed its technology to HUMAIN, and has expanded into enterprise AI. Those milestones attracted $36.1 million in new funding. We led this investment without hesitation out of a strong conviction that Liner is a one-of-a-kind AI startup already proving its worth through real traffic and commercial milestones on the global stage.”
Ki-ho Park, CEO Of LB Investment
“This investment goes beyond merely expanding our footprint. It serves as a strategic foundation to secure world-class infrastructure and top global talent, both of which are essential to anchoring reliability, the ultimate core of any AI agent. Rather than depending on short-term, marketing-driven expansion, we are focused on establishing a self-sustaining business model that builds lasting value through technological leadership and transforms us into a global AI enterprise.”
“As we compete on the global stage with world-class technology and proven traffic amid intense international competition, we appreciate your continued interest and support in Liner’s journey and future achievements.”
Luke Kim, CEO Of Liner
