DeepGrove
Category: AI in Media / Gaming / Entertainment
Korean AI companion startup building Frontia, an 'AI cinematic play' interactive story game where users become the protagonist alongside AI companions. DeepGrove was founded in 2025. The company is led by Bongmin Na. Based in Seoul, South Korea. Total funding raised: $1.1M. Latest round: Seed. Key investors include Kakao Ventures, BonAngels Venture Partners.
- Founded
- 2025
- Headquarters
- Seoul, South Korea
- Total funding
- $1.1M
Value proposition
Combines AI character-chat with multimodal (voice, image, video) interactive storytelling, letting users shape branching narratives while creators monetize their own AI-driven stories via the Frontia Studio Engine.
Products and solutions
Frontia (AI cinematic play story game, iOS/Android), Frontia Studio Engine (AI-powered content creation/monetization tool for creators)
Unique value
AI 'cinematic play' format merges AI companion chat with branching, multimedia story games — differentiated from text-only AI character chat competitors by creator monetization tools and cinematic multimodal production.
Target customer
Consumers seeking AI companion/entertainment experiences; independent creators monetizing interactive AI story content.
Industries served
AI Entertainment, Gaming, Consumer AI Companion apps
Technology advantage
Team combines founders' direct prior experience building category-defining Korean AI companion products (Crack at Wrtn, Iruda at ScatterLab), applied to a new multimodal interactive-story format; built-in creator monetization economy (one creator reportedly earned ~$4,400/month within 2 months of launch).
How they differentiate
Moves beyond pure text-based AI character chat into a multimodal, choice-driven 'AI cinematic play' story-game format with integrated creator monetization, versus competitors' primarily chat-centric products.
Main competitors
ScatterLab (Zeta/Iruda), Character.AI, Replika
Major milestones
Founded June 2025, launched Frontia AI cinematic play story game, reached 100M+ KRW MTR within 3 months (April 2026), raised $1.1M seed round led by Kakao Ventures with BonAngels Venture Partners (announced July 1, 2026).
Growth metrics
Frontia reached 100M+ KRW monthly revenue within 3 months of launch (as of April 2026); one creator earned ~₩6M (~$4,400) in monthly revenue within 2 months of the game's launch.
Market positioning
Emerging challenger in the fast-growing Korean/global AI-companion and AI-character-chat market, positioning Frontia as next-generation 'AI entertainment' beyond character chat.
Geographic focus
South Korea initially, expanding globally (App Store/Google Play global launch, MTR of 100M+ KRW within 3 months of launch as of April 2026).
About Bongmin Na
Ex-Samsung Electronics Engineer; Ex-Wrtn Technologies (뤼튼) Content Part Lead, led product development of AI character-chat service 'Crack'; Yonsei University, Electrical & Electronic Engineering.
Latest news about DeepGrove
More AI in Media / Gaming / Entertainment companies
Official website: https://deepgrov.io/
