Startup news: The AI landscape continues to evolve at a remarkable pace in 2025, and Seoul-based startup Datumo is making waves by raising $15.5 million in funding. Aimed at challenging industry leader Scale AI, Datumo's ambitious plans are backed by heavyweights like Salesforce Ventures. This article dives into Datumo's funding round, strategic goals, and what it means for entrepreneurs, and includes actionable steps and tools to guide startup founders aiming to learn from Datumo’s success.
Introduction: Why Datumo Matters in 2025
Datumo, originally known for crowdsourced AI data labeling, has transitioned into a full-stack AI evaluation platform specializing in Large Language Model (LLM) safety, accuracy, and trust metrics. Founded in Seoul by David Kim and a group of KAIST graduates, the company’s unique no-code platform, Datumo Eval, positions them to take on giants like Scale AI in the AI evaluation space. Their latest funding round brings their total capital raised to $28 million and will fuel expansion into global markets, including the U.S. and Japan.
For startup founders, Datumo's success highlights critical strategic lessons, such as timely pivots, leveraging networks for growth, and attracting high-profile backers like Salesforce Ventures.
Top 5 Strategic Steps Startup Founders Can Learn from Datumo
- Pivot When Necessary
- Datumo shifted from crowdsourced labeling to LLM evaluation based on market demands.
- Tip for startups: Constantly reassess your product-market fit. If the market signals a demand for new offerings, be ready to pivot strategically.
- Build Around Client Needs
- Datumo’s pivot was driven by demand from clients like Samsung and LG for AI model evaluation.
- Tip for startups: Engage directly with your clients or audience. Create a feedback loop to ensure your offerings address their pain points.
- Leverage Networks
- David Kim’s fireside chat with AI expert Andrew Ng caught the attention of Salesforce Ventures, leading to their involvement in Datumo’s funding.
- Tip for startups: Attend industry events, webinars, and fireside chats to connect with potential investors, mentors, and partners.
- Diversify Funding Sources
- Datumo attracted investments from Salesforce Ventures, KB Investment, and SBI Investment, creating a diverse investor pool.
- Tip for startups: Avoid over-reliance on one funding source. Apply for grants, venture capital, and angel investment simultaneously.
- Bonus Tool: Use the F/MS AI Grant Finder and Application Writer to find suitable EU startup grants and draft your applications effortlessly.
- Invest in Product Accessibility
- Datumo developed Datumo Eval, a no-code evaluation platform designed for non-technical users like compliance teams.
- Tip for startups: Simplify your product’s onboarding process to reach wider audiences and niche sectors.
Key Highlights from Datumo’s Funding Round
- Amount Raised: $15.5 million
- Total Funding: ~$28 million
- Key Investors: Salesforce Ventures, KB Investment, ACVC Partners, SBI Investment.
- Focus Areas: R&D for automated tools, international expansion, growing their team from 60 to 150 employees.
How Datumo Compares to Scale AI and Other Competitors
- Scale AI: Focuses on pretraining datasets. Recently attracted a $14.3 billion investment from Meta, cementing its position as a leader in the sector.
- Datumo’s Point of Differentiation: Unique datasets derived from published books and automated no-code tools targeting non-technical enterprise users.
- Other Competitors: Galileo and Arize AI (monitoring tools).
While Scale AI dominates pretraining dataset provisioning, Datumo’s approach to licensed, structured data and user-friendly tools opens the door to underserved regions and sectors.
Common Mistakes to Avoid for Startup Founders Inspired by Datumo
- Neglecting Feedback Loops
- Ignoring client feedback can lead to product stagnation. Always iterate based on user insights.
- Dismissing No-Code Potential
- Complexity inhibits adoption. Simplify interfaces for non-technical users to widen your audience.
- Overlooking Regional and Global Expansion
- Datumo’s global thrust into Japan and the U.S. highlights the importance of scaling across borders.
AI Tools for Entrepreneurs Expanding Like Datumo
1. PlayPal: Your AI Friend
Entrepreneurs looking for a co-founder-like assistant can use PlayPal, an innovative conversational AI companion. PlayPal offers tailored support, advice, and actionable insights, helping solve your startup’s challenges, whether you need help brainstorming ideas, crafting strategies, or tackling daily decision-making.
2. F/MS AI Grant Finder
Save hours finding and applying for relevant EU startup grants with the AI Grant Finder and Application Writer. Designed to ease funding woes, this tool drafts proposals customized for your startup goals.
3. AI Startup Lawyer
Prevent signing harmful agreements by uploading your CLA, term sheets, or grant agreements to the [AI Startup Lawyer](insert link if applicable). Understand the legalities of your documents and negotiate effectively to protect your interests.
Examples from Fe/male Switch: Startup Guides for Women
Take inspiration from Fe/male Switch’s gamified approach to entrepreneurship. Learn how startups enter the European market with ease through Malta's Startup Visa program, designed to assist foreign entrepreneurs and co-founders. Malta Enterprise holds dedicated events to support innovative startups worldwide.
Conclusion: Lessons from Datumo's Startup Journey
In 2025, Datumo's success story is a testament to the power of pivoting based on market needs, leveraging networks, and innovating with simple, accessible tools. For entrepreneurs and aspiring startup founders, the lessons are clear: listen to your market, collaborate extensively, and harness tools and grants designed to ease your journey.
Whether you’re pitching to investors or looking to scale internationally, platforms like PlayPal and the AI Grant Finder can provide indispensable support. Take steps today to validate your ideas, secure funding, and build your startup into the next rising star, just like Datumo.
Remember, funding success starts with strategic actions and tools designed to simplify the journey.
FAQ
1. What does Datumo specialize in?
Datumo specializes in large language model (LLM) evaluation, focusing on trust, safety, and accuracy metrics. Their no-code platform, Datumo Eval, caters to non-technical users such as compliance and policy teams. Learn more about Datumo Eval
2. How much funding did Datumo recently raise?
Datumo raised $15.5 million in its latest funding round, bringing the total capital raised to approximately $28 million. Read about the funding round on TechCrunch
3. Who are Datumo’s main investors?
Salesforce Ventures led the funding round, alongside KB Investment, ACVC Partners, and SBI Investment.
4. What are Datumo's plans for global expansion?
Datumo aims to expand into global markets, including the U.S. and Japan, while growing its team from 60 to 150 employees. They opened a Silicon Valley base in March 2025. Learn about Datumo’s expansion plans
5. How does Datumo compare to Scale AI?
Scale AI focuses on pretraining datasets and has recently secured a $14.3 billion investment from Meta. Datumo differentiates itself with no-code tools for non-technical users and unique datasets derived from published books. Explore Datumo’s competitive strategy
6. What was Datumo’s original business model?
Datumo initially focused on crowdsourced data labeling through a reward-based app, allowing users to earn money while labeling data.
7. How did Salesforce Ventures become involved with Datumo?
Salesforce Ventures learned about Datumo through CEO David Kim’s fireside chat with AI expert Andrew Ng at a South Korean event. The connection eventually led to their investment. Read about the Salesforce connection
8. Which major clients does Datumo serve?
Datumo works with South Korean conglomerates such as Samsung, LG Electronics, SK Telecom, and Hyundai, among others.
9. What tools does Datumo offer for AI evaluation?
Datumo Eval is their flagship no-code platform designed to evaluate LLMs for unsafe, biased, or inaccurate outputs. It includes automatic test data generation for businesses and enterprises. Learn more about Datumo Eval
10. How does Datumo address trust and safety challenges in AI?
Datumo developed Korea’s first AI trust and safety benchmark dataset, aiming to ensure responsible AI deployment in enterprises and governments. Explore Datumo’s AI trust initiatives
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond and launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch. The Fe/male Switch team is located in several countries, including the Netherlands and Malta.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 3,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.
