Artificial Intelligence Startup Upstage Secures $72 Million

Upstage Co. Ltd., a pioneering artificial intelligence startup specializing in document processing and large language models, has announced a significant milestone in its journey.

Upstage Co. Ltd., a pioneering artificial intelligence startup specializing in document processing and large language models, has announced a significant milestone in its journey.

The company revealed that it has successfully secured $72 million in new funding through its Series B round. This substantial influx of capital is poised to propel Upstage’s expansion efforts and further enhance its innovative capabilities in the AI space.

This latest funding round represents a remarkable achievement for Upstage, nearly tripling the amount raised compared to its previous funding efforts in 2021. With this infusion of capital, Upstage’s total funding now stands at an impressive $100 million, underscoring investor confidence in the company’s vision and potential.

Notable among the new investors participating in this round are prominent institutions such as Korea Development Bank, Shinhan Venture Investment Co., Hana Ventures, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, and IBK Securities. Their involvement highlights the growing recognition of Upstage’s disruptive technology and its promising trajectory in the AI sector.

Additionally, existing investors, including SBVA (formerly SoftBank Ventures Asia), Primer Sazze, Company K Partners, and Premier Partners, have reaffirmed their support by joining this round.

At the heart of Upstage’s offerings lies its cutting-edge document processing engine and large language model, Solar. These advanced tools are meticulously designed to cater to the unique needs of enterprise customers across diverse industries, including e-commerce, healthcare, finance, and legal sectors. By seamlessly integrating the document processing engine and Solar, Upstage empowers its clients to efficiently scan both physical and digital documents and interact with them using natural language queries.

Powered by sophisticated optical character recognition (OCR) technology, Upstage’s “Document AI” solution boasts a remarkable 99% classification accuracy rate. This robust capability enables the extraction of information from various document formats, including typed and handwritten content, as well as graphical elements such as charts and checkboxes.

Moreover, Upstage’s solution excels in handling documents with unconventional attributes, such as rotation, slant, or wrinkles, making it exceptionally versatile for real-world applications.

Sung Kim, co-founder and chief executive of Upstage, expressed his confidence in the company’s global expansion efforts, citing the success achieved in South Korea as a strong foundation. Kim emphasized that the newly secured funding will fuel Upstage’s mission to develop the world’s premier generative AI model and deliver unparalleled value to businesses worldwide. As part of its expansion strategy, Upstage will establish a new office in San Jose, California, further solidifying its presence in key markets.

Upstage’s Solar LLM is available for deployment both on-premises and through seamless integration via application programming interfaces (APIs), including platforms like Amazon SageMaker JumpStart. This accessibility distinguishes Solar as a compelling alternative to larger and more complex models developed by tech giants, offering businesses a practical and efficient solution for their AI needs.

The demand for Upstage’s innovative solutions has surged, particularly in high-growth industries such as finance and healthcare. Notable clients leveraging Upstage’s technology include industry leaders like Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and the Hanwha Group, a prominent South Korean conglomerate.

As Upstage, an artificial intelligence startup embarks on its next phase of growth and innovation, the company remains committed to pushing the boundaries of AI technology and delivering tangible benefits to its clients worldwide. With its visionary leadership, robust technology stack, and strong investor support, Upstage is poised to redefine the future of document processing and AI-driven solutions.