Seoul-based Datumo raises $15.5M to take on Scale AI, backed by Salesforce

Datumo, a startup based in Seoul, has successfully raised $15.5 million in funding, pushing its total capital to nearly $28 million. This round of investment, backed by notable firms such as Salesforce Ventures, KB Investment, ACVC Partners, and SBI Investment, comes at a time when many organizations express concerns regarding the safe and responsible use of generative AI. A recent report by McKinsey revealed that while 40% of businesses see explainability in AI decisions as a significant risk, only 17% are actively working to address it. Founded in 2018 by David Kim and five KAIST alumni, Datumo initially focused on AI data labeling. Frustrated by the inefficiencies in data labeling processes, Kim introduced a reward-based application that allows users to label data in their spare time while earning money. The concept gained traction at a startup competition at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, helping the company secure its initial funding. In its first operational year, Datumo surpassed $1 million in revenue and established vital contracts with major South Korean enterprises, including Samsung, LG Electronics, and Hyundai. As the market evolved, clients began seeking more than just basic data labeling. Recognizing this demand, Datumo expanded its offerings to include AI model evaluation, inadvertently stepping into a new realm that it had been navigating all along. The company has since developed Korea’s inaugural benchmark dataset focused on AI trust and safety. Kim noted, "We started in data annotation, then expanded into pretraining datasets and evaluation as the LLM ecosystem matured." With over 300 clients and projected revenues of around $6 million in 2024, Datumo stands out in a competitive landscape. Its unique approach includes licensed datasets sourced from published literature, providing structured human reasoning data that is challenging to clean. Moreover, Datumo has introduced a comprehensive evaluation platform, Datumo Eval, which automates the testing of AI outputs for biases and inaccuracies, catering to non-technical users in policy and compliance roles. The company’s recent funding will bolster its research and development, particularly in automating AI evaluation tools, while also expanding its market presence in South Korea, Japan, and the United States. With a team of 150 employees in Seoul and a new office in Silicon Valley, Datumo is poised for significant growth as it continues to innovate in the AI safety sector.