Datumo, a Seoul-based AI data company, has raised US$15.5 million from investors including Salesforce Ventures, KB Investment, and SBI Investment, bringing its total funding to about US$28 million.

Co-founded in 2018 by Kim alongside five KAIST alumni, Datumo was formerly known as SelectStar.

The company started as a data labeling startup and now provides tools to help businesses test, monitor, and improve AI models, focusing on trust, safety, and compliance.

Datumo works with major Korean clients such as Samsung, Samsung SDS, LG Electronics, LG CNS, Hyundai, Naver, and SK Telecom, and reports about US$6 million in revenue in 2024.

It released Korea’s first benchmark dataset for AI trust and safety and offers a full-stack, no-code automated evaluation platform for non-technical teams to check AI outputs for bias or errors.

The new funding will support developing automated evaluation tools for enterprise AI and scaling global go-to-market operations across South Korea, Japan, and the US.

Datumo has 150 employees in Seoul and established a presence in Silicon Valley in March 2025.

🔗 Source: TechCrunch

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ AI safety startups benefit from unprecedented funding surge

Datumo’s $15.5 million raise comes amid a significant period for AI startup funding, with companies in this sector raising $104.3 billion in just the first half of 2025, nearly matching the entire previous year’s total1.

This is part of a notable 80% increase from 2023, when global VC investment in AI companies exceeded $100 billion and accounted for 33% of all global venture funding2.

The funding environment particularly favors specialized infrastructure and applications that address specific industry challenges, aligning with Datumo’s pivot from basic data labeling to AI safety and evaluation tools.

Investors are increasingly focused on startups that solve critical AI implementation challenges rather than just developing new AI models, as evidenced by Datumo’s ability to attract strategic investors like Salesforce Ventures, who see value in their enterprise-focused approach.

2️⃣ Growing demand for AI governance drives evaluation tool adoption

Datumo’s evolution from data labeling to AI safety tools addresses a critical gap that most organizations acknowledge but few are actively solving.