Kakao Brain
How Kakao Brain stacks up in Foundation Models — funding data, key investors, and more.
Awaira Score
Out of 100
HQ
South Korea
Founded
2017
Raised
$100M
Stage
Corporate
Team
100-500
About Kakao Brain
Kakao Brain is the AI research and foundation model division of Kakao Corp, the dominant Korean internet and messaging platform company, developing large language models including KoGPT for Korean language, the Karlo text-to-image generation model, and AI infrastructure for deploying AI capabilities across the Kakao platform ecosystem spanning KakaoTalk messaging, KakaoPay, and Kakao Mobility.…
Key Facts
- Kakao Brain has raised a total of $100M in disclosed funding across 5 funding rounds.
- Kakao Brain was founded in 2017 by Kim Il-doo and is headquartered in South Korea.
- Kakao Brain employs approximately 100-500 people.
- Kakao Brain operates in the Foundation Models category and is currently at the Corporate stage.
- Kakao Brain has an Awaira Score of 58/100, ranking it among the tracked AI companies on Awaira.
- Kakao Brain's most recent funding round was a Series D of $40M closed in October 2022.
Source: Awaira · Updated Mar 24, 2026
Valuation
N/A
Post-money
Total Raised
$100M
All rounds
Awaira Score
58/100
Founded
2017
100-500 employees
Strengths & Risks
Strengths
Large team of 100-500+ employees
Late-stage with proven business model
Considerations
Valuation not publicly disclosed
Analysis based on publicly available data. Not investment advice.
Funding Velocity
5
Total Rounds
$20M
Avg Round Size
5.4yr
Funding Span
Kakao Brain raised 5 rounds over 5.4 years, averaging $20M per round — a pace of roughly one round every 13 months.
Awaira estimate based on public data. Not financial advice.
How does Kakao Brain stack up against competitors?
Competitor Comparison
| Metric | ★Kakao Brain | OpenAI | Anthropic | DeepSeek |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awaira Score | 58/100 | 98/100 | 95/100 | 92/100 |
| Total Raised | $100M | $127B | $67B | $1.1B |
| Valuation | N/A | $852B | $380B | N/A |
| Stage | Corporate | Private | Series G | Corporate |
| Founded | 2017 | 2015 | 2021 | 2023 |
| Employees | 100-500 | 4,000 | 3,000 | 150 |
| Country | 🇰🇷 | 🇺🇸 | 🇺🇸 | 🇨🇳 |
Funding Rounds
Inactive$40M
Oct 2022
$31M
Jun 2021
$18M
Feb 2020
$8M
Oct 2018
$3M
Jun 2017
Kakao Brain Latest News
Founded Same Year (2017)
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