Artificial intelligence (AI) company PersonaAI (CEO Yoo Seung-jae) announced on the 2nd that it has raised approximately KRW 12 billion through a pre-IPO investment ahead of its initial public offering (IPO).

The company’s cumulative investment now stands at around KRW 41 billion. Participants in this round include LIG Nex1, a defense industry company; the Defense Innovation Fund jointly managed with IBK Capital, which specializes in corporate finance; DB Tech Investments, the CVC of DB HiTek that leads corporate sourcing and investment; HB Investment, a venture capital firm investing in promising small and venture businesses; and AIM Investment, an investment management company that operates private equity and venture funds and supports corporate growth.

The background to this pre-IPO round is the assessment that PersonaAI’s diverse AI models can serve as the core operating system (OS) of the rapidly growing physical AI ecosystem. PersonaAI’s technology can be applied not only to AI PCs and servers, but also to various future devices in the form of edge AI tailored to the coming physical AI era, and has been recognized for its strong technological competitiveness and commercialization potential.

In particular, by showcasing its proprietary AI technology that operates without the internet or GPUs on the global stage, the company has gained international recognition, including winning CES Innovation Awards for two consecutive years. PersonaAI plans to use the newly raised funds to accelerate efforts to strengthen AX (AI Agent Experience) and to promote the development and business expansion of physical AI.

PersonaAI’s core business is a generative AI contact center (GEN AICC) that applies AI to enterprise customer touchpoints based on generative AI technology. Using its proprietary AI engine SONA, the company provides AI services that can be easily adopted by a wide range of clients—including financial institutions, general corporations, and public institutions—in both on-premise and subscription formats. It is also expanding into the edge AI field, applying its models, which have been made lighter, to physical AI. In recognition of its technological capabilities and growth potential, PersonaAI was awarded the Order of Industrial Service Merit, Seoktap, in July last year and was selected as a preliminary unicorn by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in September.

The company’s STT (speech engine), sLLM (generative AI model), and VLA (physical AI model) can be utilized across various fields, reflecting strong technological capabilities and scalability. Building on SONA’s natural language processing strengths, which enable natural conversations, PersonaAI plans to extend its influence beyond GEN AICC into the physical AI domain.

A PersonaAI representative stated, “We intend to take on the global market and elevate the status of K-AI by promoting ‘Korea, strong in AI’ worldwide.”

After completing its pre-IPO investment, PersonaAI will begin full-scale preparations for an IPO this year. Together with its underwriter Mirae Asset Securities, the company plans to initiate the formal listing process, including a technology evaluation.

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