Upstage, an AI company specializing in large language models (LLMs) and Document AI, announced that it has raised $72 million in a Series B funding round. With this latest funding round, Upstage has raised over $100 million since its founding in October 2020, making it the most funded South Korean AI software company in history.
Prominent investors led the Series B funding round, including SK Networks, KT, Korea Development Bank, Shinhan Venture Investment, Hana Ventures, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, and Industrial Bank of Korea. And existing investors, such as SBVA (formerly SoftBank Ventures Asia), Primer Sazze Partners, Company K Partners, and Premier Partners, also joined the round.
Upstage’s flagship Solar LLM has been praised for its lightning-fast performance and unparalleled cost-efficiency, powered by a unique Depth-Up Scaling (DUS) technique. This model has already delivered use cases across leading enterprises in many industrial domains.
Available through on-premises and API integration via platforms like Amazon SageMaker JumpStart, Solar provides a versatile and accessible alternative to larger, more resource-intensive models developed by tech giants.
The company made significant inroads with its Document AI solution, powered with OCR technology. And this solution has found strong demand in high-growth industries like finance and healthcare, such as clients including Samsung and Hanwha.
This funding round will enable Upstage to accelerate the development of purpose-trained LLMs for global enterprises as the company expands its reach with new offices in San Jose, California.
KEY QUOTE:
“We’re thrilled to extend our strong success in South Korea to a global audience. This funding will help us build the world’s best generative AI model and deliver the ultimate ‘AGI for work’ solution to businesses worldwide.”
– Sung Kim, co-founder and CEO of Upstage
