Whale, a Singapore-headquartered enterprise AI company, has closed a $40 million Series C3 extension, bringing its total Series C financing to $100 million. The round was led by CMB International (via an CMBI investment fund focused on AI and frontier technology) and SMBC Asia Rising Fund, the corporate venture capital arm of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. Additional participants include Krungsri Finnovate (the CVC arm of Krungsri/Bank of Ayudhya, part of MUFG), Singtel Innov8, Hyundai Motor Group, and Charisma Partners. Earlier Series C participants include Bosch Ventures, MTR Lab, MDI Ventures, Gentree Fund, and Linear Capital.
Whale builds what it calls an AI Operating System (AIOS) for enterprise operations, connecting physical and digital workflows through a proprietary Business World Model (BWM) — an AI model trained to interpret signals from cameras, sensors, and audio in the same way large language models process text. The company serves more than 1,600 enterprises across 45-plus countries in retail, automotive, food and beverage, manufacturing, and financial services, managing more than 600,000 edge AI nodes globally. It has been building the BWM for seven years, a timeline its investors repeatedly cited as a key differentiator.
The platform consists of six integrated products: SpaceSight, which converts cameras and IoT sensors in stores, showrooms, and facilities into real-time operational intelligence covering foot traffic, dwell time, engagement, and compliance; Echo, which analyzes frontline sales conversations to identify high-performer behavior and generate scalable coaching insights; Lume for AI-powered content distribution; Alivia for workflow automation and intelligent agents; Harbor for knowledge management and compliance; and Novus for AI infrastructure and governance. Together they form a full-stack intelligence loop from physical sensing to autonomous operational execution.
The Series C3 proceeds will fund expansion across North America and the Asia-Pacific region, with the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe planned as subsequent targets. Whale plans to scale its global teams, deepen enterprise partnerships, and expand platform integrations with local infrastructure in each target market.
KEY QUOTES:
“This new funding isn’t about starting from scratch. It’s about advancing what we’ve built here. We’re scaling our teams globally, deepening enterprise partnerships, and expanding our platform integrations with local infrastructure. Enterprises across regions are grappling with rising operational costs, and the urgent need to turn unstructured operational data into decision-ready intelligence, and we’re already delivering that today.”
Jerry Ye, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Whale
“Whale has built a strong technology foundation with a clear direction in enterprise AI, and Jerry and his team have demonstrated the ability to execute across complex, real-world deployments, which is rare at this scale. We see long-term potential in their approach and are pleased to support their next phase of growth.”
Dr. Zhang Guoyong, General Manager, Private Equity Investment Management Department, CMBI
“Whale’s ability to unlock and structure data from physical environments — enabling enterprises to turn real-world activities into actionable intelligence — is particularly compelling. By combining Whale’s technology with SMBC Group’s global client network and industry expertise, we look forward to delivering value across industries and regions.”
Mayoran Rajendra, Managing Director and Head of AI Transformation Office, SMBC Group
“We are excited to support Whale as it scales an enterprise AI platform that goes beyond software enablement to address real-world business operations — translating innovation into tangible business impact for customers across sales, marketing, service, and customer engagement.”
Keith Noh, Vice President and Head of ZER01NE, Hyundai Motor Group
