South Korea startup Wrtn raises $18 mln in funding amid AI race

LY

07/06/2024 02:00

SEOUL, June 7 (Reuters) - South Korean artificial
intelligence startup Wrtn Technologies raised 25 billion won
($18.33 million) in its latest round of funding as investors
flock to AI bets and Seoul backs the development of
next-generation AI technologies. 
    Investors such as the Asian arm of Silicon Valley-based
venture capital firm BlueRun Ventures and the corporate venture
capital arm of Japan's LY Corp  4689.T  joined Wrtn's pre-series
B funding, the startup said in a statement. 
    Wrtn declined to comment on its valuation as of the latest
funding round. The investment follows the raising of 15 billion
won in series A funding in June, 2023. 
    Wrtn, which aims to make it easier for people to use various
existing AI models and build their own services such as
chatbots, has reached 2.2 million monthly active users as of
now, up from around 40,000 in the first quarter of last year
after launching its AI portal in January 2023. 
    It attracted interest from investors looking to bet on the
consumer-side of the AI boom, founder and CEO Seyoung Lee told
Reuters. 
    With so many AI models coming to market, "the difference
between first and second place in each field is shrinking... a
large user-based platform that can gather them will appear,"
which Wrtn hopes to be, Lee said. 
    The investment comes as South Korea announced in April its
target to become the No. 3 global player in AI and related
semiconductors by 2030, including backing the development of
next-generation AI core technologies and the formation of cloud
resources that use domestic chips. 
($1 = 1,363.7400 won)

 (Reporting by Joyce Lee
Editing by Ed Davies)
 ((joyce.lee@tr.com;))