Liner
Category: AI in Productivity
An AI search and agent platform for professionals that delivers cited answers, academic research (Liner Scholar), and professional writing (Liner Write) with an emphasis on accuracy and source reliability. Liner was founded in 2015. The company is led by Jinu Kim. Based in Seoul, South Korea. Team size: 51-200. Total funding raised: $36.4M. Latest round: Series B, $29.0M, 2024-10, led by Intervest and Atinum Investment. Key investors include Intervest, Atinum Investment, Samsung Venture Investment, LB Investment, Naver, KB Investment, TBT Partners, SpringCamp.
- Founded
- 2015
- Headquarters
- Seoul, South Korea
- Team size
- 51-200
- Total funding
- $36.4M
Value proposition
Liner provides accurate, citation-backed AI search and research agents so knowledge workers can find trustworthy answers, run literature reviews, and draft professional documents without hallucinations, powered by a decade of human-verified highlight data.
Products and solutions
Liner (AI Search) — cited everyday search for professionals, Liner Scholar — academic research agent (papers, literature reviews, citations), Liner Write — professional drafting and editing agent, Liner Pro / Deep Research — premium research suite with hypothesis and literature agents, Mobile apps (iOS/Android) and browser presence
Unique value
Liner's UVP is accuracy-first AI search and agentic research: every answer is source-linked, models are trained on a large human-highlight dataset and academic corpora, and the product stack spans search, scholarly research, and writing agents rather than annotation alone.
Target customer
Students, academic researchers, and professional knowledge workers (consultants, PMs, content/strategy roles) who need citable AI search, literature review, and reliable drafting; growing B2B/higher-ed institutional buyers.
Industries served
Education, Research, Professional Services, General Productivity
Technology advantage
Core advantage is a long-horizon dataset of human-verified highlights and notes used to rank and ground answers (RAG/ranking heritage), plus search-specialized models (SearchLLM) and Scholar mode trained on 200M+ academic papers. Public accuracy claims include top SimpleQA scores (e.g. ~95.3). Citation-first UX reduces hallucination risk for research workflows.
How they differentiate
Liner differentiates on citation-backed accuracy and research-agent depth (Scholar/Deep Research, literature and hypothesis agents) rather than general chat. Human-highlight and academic training data plus source-level UX target lower hallucination for students, researchers, and knowledge workers versus generic LLM search.
Main competitors
Perplexity AI, ChatGPT / OpenAI Search, Google Gemini / AI Overviews, Elicit, Consensus, Readwise
Key partnerships
Browser / app-store distribution (Chrome, Edge, Safari; iOS/Android), Samsung C&T MOU (Bynd smart building platform + Liner AI search agent, 2026), Samsung Venture Investment (Series B investor), SK Telecom consortium / A.Dot AI search integration (national AI model project), BC Card strategic AI partnership (2025), Yonsei University AI Campus (Liner Pro for ~50,000 members, 2026), Gyeongsang National University campus-wide Liner Pro supply, Seoul National University BMNL AI-for-Science research collaboration (2026), Theta Labs EdgeCloud; Tako data integration, Lenovo PC pre-install / onboarding distribution (US)
Notable customers
Primarily B2C/prosumer with expanding institutional higher-ed and B2B: Yonsei University campus-wide Liner Pro (~50,000 members, 2026); Gyeongsang National University campus Liner Pro; SNU BMNL research collab; concentrations at US universities (e.g. USC, Michigan, UC Berkeley, NYU, Texas A&M); distribution via SKT A.Dot and Lenovo PC onboarding.
Major milestones
Evolved from 2015 web highlighter to global AI search/agents; corporate name aligned to Liner (2024)., Series B / B2 funding Oct 2024 (~KRW 27B tranche; cumulative ~KRW 44B / ~$32–36M)., Reached ~12–13M users in 220+ countries; a16z GenAI consumer web rankings., High SimpleQA / accuracy benchmark claims (e.g. ~95.3)., 2026 campus and enterprise deals: Yonsei AI Campus, GNU Liner Pro, Samsung C&T Bynd MOU, SNU AI-for-Science collab., Domain/product primary presence on liner.com (getliner.com retired)., Pursuing larger Series C / growth capital for global scale (reported as in progress mid-2026, not closed as of verification).
Growth metrics
About 12–13 million users across 220+ countries (App Store/Play and company materials, 2026). Strong US paid share (~60% of paid). a16z Top GenAI web apps recognition; reported large YoY MAU growth into 2026.
Market positioning
Positioned as a global accuracy-first AI search and agent platform for knowledge workers—students, researchers, and professionals—with strong US paid mix and expansion into enterprise AX and higher-ed campus deployments.
Geographic focus
Global, with a strong user base in North America, Europe, and East Asia (particularly South Korea and Japan).
Patents and IP
Information not publicly available.
About Jinu Kim
Jinu Kim (also known as Luke Jinu Kim) is the founder and CEO of Liner, an AI-powered search and research platform. He registered Aurum Planet (later renamed Liner) in 2012 while at Yonsei University and launched the Liner product in 2015. He holds a Computer Science background from Yonsei University; prior venture experience includes founding Bapul, a mobile Q&A platform for students acquired by a leading Korean education company.
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Official website: https://liner.com