South Korean AI startup Aizen nets $4.2m to expand in Southeast Asia

Aizen, a fintech-focused AI company based in South Korea, announced that it has raised US$4.2 million in a series B funding round led by SEMA Translink Investment, a venture capital firm that has also backed local online grocer Kurly.

Korea Growth Investment, a fund-of-funds investment firm, also participated in the round.

Aizen CEO Jung Seok Kang / Photo credit: Aizen

The latest investment brings its total capital raised to US$9 million, including US$2 million in research and development grants and a previous funding round from Woori Bank, according to the startup.

The company will use the new funds to expand internationally and roll out its AI banking-as-a-service product throughout Southeast Asia.

The new service is designed to allow companies to launch banking services faster, boost customer retention, and diversify their revenue streams through its APIs. It can also help banks reach more customers without high marketing and IT costs, Aizen said.

Founded in 2016, the company uses AI to automate the decision-making processes in banking, retail payment, and insurance. With its proprietary automated machine learning platform called Abacus, it offers several AI-powered solutions primarily for the financial services sector.

For example, its Credit to Map technology integrates several sources of data, such as ecommerce sites or e-wallets, and convert them into credit information (i.e., a person’s ability to pay, willingness to pay, etc.). The data will then be used to automate decision-making processes in the entire credit life cycle from planning and risk assessment to collection.

The startup said its mission is to redesign digital banking with automated machine learning technology. Its users include financial institutions such as Woori Bank, Hyundai Card, and Samsung Marine and Fire Insurance, according to a statement. Aizen was part of the first batch of the Plug and Play fintech accelerator for Asia Pacific.