Four South Korean artificial intelligence (AI) startups—Nota, DeNotitia, Upstage, and Twelve Labs—have been selected among the world’s top 100 AI companies. This selection was made by global market research firm CB Insights, which announced on the 24th (local time) that these companies had been chosen as part of their AI 100 list for the ninth consecutive year. The selected companies operate in different sectors: Nota in the edge computing field, DeNotitia in vector database management, Twelve Labs in content generation, and Upstage in foundational models.
The AI 100 is an annual initiative by CB Insights to analyze AI startups worldwide, identifying the most innovative and promising 100 companies based on criteria such as technological innovation, business models, funding scale, industry partnerships, team composition, and patents. Out of over 17,000 companies, only 100 were selected.
CB Insights noted several insights from this year’s AI 100. Among the 100 selected, 21 are AI agent companies or those supporting infrastructure, an area prioritized by investors. Additionally, the growing need for security has directed attention to machine learning security companies focused on protecting large language models (LLMs) and countering advanced AI-based attacks. The rapid growth of vertical AI applications is also noteworthy, diverging from last year’s trend where more general horizontal AI companies received substantial investments. So far this year, vertical AI companies have raised over $1.1 billion in funding.
Manlio Carrelli, CEO of CB Insights, emphasized that the companies selected as part of AI 100 are key players poised to reshape the AI industry landscape, leading commercialization in areas such as multi-agent systems, next-generation computing, and data curation.
The inclusion in CB Insights’ AI 100 has also boosted the valuation of these companies. Nota, known for its AI optimization technology in the edge domain, is preparing to file a preliminary examination for KOSDAQ listing next month. CEO Chae Myeong-su expressed that being recognized by a reputable market research firm like CB Insights is highly meaningful, and emphasized Nota’s commitment to leading the global on-device AI market through its unique AI optimization technology, aiming for continued innovation to enable efficient AI utilization worldwide.