Persona AI, a Korean artificial intelligence company led by CEO Yoo Seung-jae, announced Wednesday that it has raised approximately 12 billion won ($8.4 million) in a pre-IPO funding round ahead of its initial public offering.
The company's cumulative investment has now reached approximately 41 billion won ($29 million). Participants in this round include the Defense Innovation Fund jointly operated by LIG Nex1, Korea's leading defense contractor, and IBK Capital, which specializes in corporate finance for small and medium-sized enterprises. Other investors include DB Technology Investment, the corporate venture capital arm of DB HiTek that focuses on discovering and investing in technology-driven companies; HB Investment, a leading Korean venture capital firm investing in promising SMEs and startups; and AIM Investment, an investment management firm supporting corporate growth through private equity and venture funds.
The pre-IPO round was driven by recognition that Persona AI's various artificial intelligence models can serve as a core operating system for the rapidly growing physical AI ecosystem. The company's technology can be applied as edge AI across various devices, extending beyond AI PCs and servers to meet the demands of the emerging physical AI era, earning recognition for its high technological competitiveness and commercialization potential.
The company has gained international recognition by showcasing proprietary AI technology that operates without internet connectivity or GPUs, winning CES Innovation Awards for two consecutive years.
Persona AI plans to use the investment to strengthen AX (AI Agent Experience) capabilities and accelerate physical AI development and business expansion.
The company's core business is GEN AICC (Generative AI Contact Center), which applies generative AI technology to enterprise customer touchpoints. Using solutions powered by its proprietary AI engine SONA, the company offers AI services that can be easily adopted by financial institutions, general enterprises, and public organizations through both on-premise installation and subscription models. The company is also expanding into edge AI applications through model optimization for physical AI deployment.
In recognition of its technological capabilities and growth potential, Persona AI received the Stone Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit in July last year and was selected as a preliminary unicorn company by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in September.
The company's technologies, including STT (speech engine), sLLM (generative AI model), and VLA (physical AI model), can be utilized across various fields, demonstrating high technological capability and scalability. Persona AI plans to expand its influence beyond GEN AICC into the physical AI domain, leveraging SONA's natural language processing strengths that enable natural conversation.
"We are determined to challenge the global market and raise the status of K-AI by showing the world that Korea excels in AI," a company official said.
Following the completion of the pre-IPO investment, Persona AI will begin full-scale preparations for its IPO this year. The company plans to initiate formal listing procedures, including technology evaluation, with Mirae Asset Securities (006800.KS) as the lead underwriter.
