Upstage Named to the 2025 CB Insights’ List of the 100 Most Innovative AI Startups

Upstage was named CB Insights’ ninth annual AI 100, showcasing the 100 most promising private artificial intelligence companies in the world.

“This recognition is not only a testament to Upstage’s technological capabilities, but also a meaningful validation of Korea’s growing influence in the global AI industry,” said Sung Kim, CEO at Upstage. “We will continue to lead the way in bringing the AI work standards we’ve established in Korea to international markets—including the U.S., Japan, and Thailand—so that ‘Korean AI standard’ can become the global standard.”

“The AI 100 winners are future movers and shakers, taking big swings that will shape the future of AI,” said Manlio Carrelli, CEO at CB Insights. “This year’s cohort is pushing AI applications from emerging to emerged, working on everything from AI agents for complex processes to security and robotics. They’ve also zeroed in on new and promising technologies that might not be on the radar of many enterprises — multi-agent systems, novel computing and data curation approaches, and physical AI.”

The list recognizes early—and mid-stage startups that are leading the way in applying AI across industries and architectures.CB Insights’ research team picked winning companies based on CB Insights datasets, including deal activity, industry partnerships, team strength, investor strength, employee headcount, and proprietary Commercial Maturity and Mosaic scores. We also dug into Analyst Briefings submitted directly to us by startups.

Upstage is building intelligence for the future of work—with proprietary document processing to large language models (LLMs). Our inclusion in the AI 100, under the AI Infrastructure – Foundation Models category, highlights our leadership in developing scalable, high-performance models built for real-world deployment. Powered by exclusive domain datasets, a modular architecture, and deep partnerships with industry leaders, Upstage is setting a new standard for enterprise-grade AI infrastructure.

Quick facts on the 2025 AI 100:

• The 100 winners include 21 startups in AI agent platforms and infrastructure, 12 in AI observability and governance, and 12 in physical AI technology and building blocks.
• The 2025 cohort is deploying AI across horizontal applications (customer service, process automation), infrastructure (AI observability, AI agent building), and verticals (healthcare and life sciences, industrials, financial services).
• Collectively, these companies have raised $11.4B in equity funding over time, including more than $2.3B in 2025 (as of 4/16/2025).
• Nearly 75% are early-stage companies (Series A or earlier).
• 27 companies are based outside the United States, spanning 13 countries. This includes companies in developing and competitive AI markets like France and South Korea.
• The cohort has formed 315+ business relationships since 2023, including with industry leaders like NVIDIA, Google, and Uber.