Liner is a South Korean AI search company founded in 2015 by Luke Jinu Kim and Brian Chanmin Woo. It began as a popular web highlighting and content-curation tool and has since transformed into an AI-powered search and answer engine aimed at students, researchers, and knowledge workers who need reliable, well-sourced information. Liner's central differentiator is trust: rather than maximizing engagement, it emphasizes answer accuracy and transparent sourcing.
To deliver trustworthy results, Liner developed its own large language model specialized in source selection, designed to identify and prioritize credible references when generating answers. This focus on reliable sourcing positions Liner against general-purpose chatbots and search engines that can hallucinate or cite low-quality material, an especially important distinction for academic and professional research where citation quality matters. The company launched its AI agent technology in Korea in 2023 before scaling globally.
Liner's reach is notably international: the product is used across more than 220 countries and has surpassed 10 million users worldwide, an unusual global footprint for a Korean consumer AI startup. This positions Liner as a genuine competitor in the emerging market for vertical, research-oriented AI search, where users want concise answers grounded in trustworthy citations rather than open-ended generation.
In October 2024, Liner raised a 27 billion won Series B2 round (reported around $20 million), bringing its total investment to roughly 44 billion won. The round was led by Atinum Investment and InterVest, with participation from Samsung Venture Investment and LB Investment, and follow-on support from existing backers including Capstone Partners, the Industrial Bank of Korea, and SL Investment. With strong global usage and institutional backing, Liner is positioning itself as a research-grade, accuracy-first alternative in the competitive AI search landscape, including a push into the US market.