Upstage (company)

Upstage Co., Ltd.
Native name
주식회사 업스테이지
Company typePrivate
IndustryArtificial intelligence
FoundedOctober 2020 (2020-10)
FounderSung Kim
Headquarters
Yongin
,
South Korea
ProductsSolar
Websiteupstage.ai

Upstage Co., Ltd. (Korean: 주식회사 업스테이지) is a South Korean artificial intelligence company founded in 2020.

History

Upstage was established in 2020 by Sung Kim, a former professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Kim also led Naver's Clova team before founding the company.[1] Upstage secured 31.6 billion won in Series A funding in 2021, followed by 100 billion won in Series B funding in 2024. The funding received support from SoftBank Ventures Asia, Korea Development Bank, KT Corporation, and Mirae Asset Venture Investment.[2][3]

Models

In December 2023, Upstage introduced Solar, a small language model with 10.7 billion parameters.[4] Solar Pro 2 was released in July 2025, marking South Korea’s first large language model recognized as a frontier model. Solar Pro 2 has taken the global stage, outperforming leading models such as GPT-4.1 and DeepSeek V3.[5][6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Baek, Byung-yeul (May 16, 2023). "Upstage unveils new AI services". The Korea Times.
  2. ^ Choi, Kyong-ae (April 16, 2024). "AI startup Upstage attracts about 100 bln won as it seeks global expansion". Yonhap. Seoul.
  3. ^ Lee, Yoolim (April 16, 2024). "AI Startup Upstage Secures $72 Million for US, Asian Expansion". Bloomberg. Yahoo Finance.
  4. ^ Jang, Kang-Ho (January 11, 2024). "Upstage installs Solar in KakaoTalk AI services". Korea Economic Daily.
  5. ^ Davies, Christian; Song, Jung-a (August 12, 2025). "South Korea's Upstage enters global AI race". Financial Times.
  6. ^ Chen, Lillian; Kuo, Emily (July 22, 2025). "South Korea's Solar Pro 2 takes global stage, surpassing GPT-4.1 & DeepSeek V3". DigiTimes.
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