OpenResearch gets $7.5 mn seed round

OpenResearch, an AI search service founded by former Kakao Brain CEO Kim Il-Doo, said on Thursday that it got a seed round 10 billion won ($7.5 million).

This investment was led by LB Investment, Mirae Asset Capital and Mirae Asset Venture Investments, with BonAngels Venture Partners also participating as a co-investor.

OpenResearch is an AI startup established in July this year with the aim of creating an "AI expert accessible to everyone."

OpenResearch was founded by Kim Il-Doo, the former CEO of KakaoBrain, the AI research and service arm of Kakao.

At Kakao Brain, Kim led the development and commercialization of generative AI models such as the large-scale language model KoGPT, the image-generation model focused on people's images Karlo, and the chest X-ray interpretation model Kara.

Baek Woon-Hyuk, an AI language model expert who oversaw the development and research of KoGPT, has also joined OpenResearch, adding strength to the team.

Additionally, many AI specialists who have developed generative foundation models from scratch have gathered at OpenResearch.

The company is developing a professional AI search service tailored to knowledge workers, aiming to streamline the mechanical and repetitive processes of web searches and reduce wasted time, providing a more efficient information search experience.

Unlike existing AI search services that generate answers based on a limited selection of web documents ranking high in search engines, OpenResearch differentiates itself by offering more refined responses and reports in near-real time.

This startup plans to release its AI search service through a closed beta test by the end of the year.

Write to Joo-Wan Kim at kjwan@hankyung.com