South Korean genAI startup Upstage has raised 180 billion won (US$120 million) in a Series C round backed by major Asian financial institutions, marking it as the country’s first generative AI unicorn.

The recent Upstage AI funding South Korea round values the company at over 1 trillion won (US$679 million), as reported by AJP.

Silicon Valley venture capital firm Sage Partners led the investment.

Several financial groups participated in the funding, including KB Securities, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, and Shinhan Venture Investment. Global equity firm Axiom Asia and InterVest also joined the round.

Upstage develops enterprise AI products tailored for heavy data workloads. Its core offerings include the proprietary Solar LLM and a document processing tool called Document Parse.

Financial institutions and insurance providers use this type of document intelligence software to extract and classify data from complex forms.

This automation reduces the administrative burden of back-office operations and claims adjudication.

The South Korean government recently selected Upstage to lead a national initiative to develop sovereign AI technology.

Upstage will use the fresh capital to expand its graphics processing unit infrastructure and develop new foundational models.

The company also plans to hire additional staff to support its expansion into the US and Japan.

“The latest funding goes beyond simple fundraising and shows the market’s confidence in Upstage’s journey and achievements as an AI developer,”

said Kim Seong-hun, Chief Executive Officer, Upstage.

Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Hong Kong, based on image by user26544460 and ebhy via Freepik