NAVER D2SF Invests in Podonos, a Voice AI Model Evaluation Startup Based in North America

- Amid the rapid proliferation of AI models, Podonos addresses growing demand for performance evaluation and validation, especially in the voice AI domain

- Provides comprehensive testing of pronunciation, emotion, noise tolerance, and persona alignment for both AI model developers and service providers

- NAVER D2SF continues strategic investments in "AI for AI" tools across the full AI value chain

SEONGNAM, South Korea, Sept. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- NAVER D2SF announced a new investment in Podonos, a North America–based startup specializing in voice AI model evaluation and benchmarking. This pre-seed round, led by U.S.-based Serac Ventures, marks Podonos's first institutional funding, with NAVER D2SF and KAIST Venture Investment Holdings also participating from Korea.

As the number of AI models continues to surge, the need for robust evaluation and verification tools has become increasingly critical. Voice AI, in particular, is gaining rapid adoption in applications such as speech recognition, synthesis, customer service, and media content—and is emerging as a key interface for AI agents. Given the complexity of human speech, performance criteria now extend beyond pronunciation accuracy to include tone, emotion, noise resilience, persona consistency, and user preferences, increasing the demand for tailored model evaluation.

Podonos offers a unique solution by combining a global network of over 150,000 evaluators with its proprietary AI-driven automation engine, delivering voice AI model assessment results within 12 hours. Its platform serves a wide range of clients across the AI value chain, enabling AI model developers to verify, benchmark, and improve their models' performance, while allowing service providers that leverage AI technologies to identify and monitor models that best align with their specific goals, target audiences, and operational environments.

The company's evaluation platform is already trusted by notable voice AI startups including Resemble AI, Play AI, and Sanas AI, and has been cited by major tech media and developer communities. Podonos plans to further expand into high-demand sectors such as healthcare, finance, gaming, and advertising, while broadening its capabilities to include multimodal model evaluation.

Yang Sang-hwan, Leader of NAVER D2SF, stated, "As we enter a phase of AI abundance, the importance of 'AI for AI'—tools that make AI more usable and reliable—is growing. Podonos is one of the few teams globally capable of quantifying and validating the performance of voice AI models. We believe they will play a key role in shaping the global voice AI landscape, with strong potential for synergy with NAVER's own initiatives."

Soo-hyun Bae, CEO of Podonos, added, "With this funding, we plan to accelerate hiring and enhance our automated model analysis tools. We look forward to collaborating with NAVER D2SF to deliver higher-quality voice services and grow together."

NAVER D2SF has consistently invested in "AI for AI" technologies, including startups like Crowdworks, which focuses on AI training data generation, and Nota, which optimizes AI models for edge environments. NAVER D2SF plans to continue making strategic investments across the entire AI development value chain. 

About NAVER

Founded in 1999, NAVER is Korea's largest Internet company and one of the world's top tech companies. Leading cutting-edge technologies, NAVER operates No.1 search engine in Korea and holds various business portfolios encompassing commerce, fintech, cloud, AI and robotics, as well as other global online services such as LINE mobile messenger, Webtoon and Webnovel publishing, SNOW video camera app and ZEPETO metaverse platform.

NAVER recorded sales of KRW 10.74 trillion (USD 7.5 billion) in 2024. The company invests approximately 25% of its annual sales on R&D projects, pursuing innovation through continuous research and development of future technologies, such as in robotics, autonomous driving, digital twins, AI, and AR. TEAM NAVER strengthens business portfolios and expands its service regions, including Japan, North America, and Europe.

To learn more, visit www.navercorp.com/en 

SOURCE NAVER