Pickle, Developer of AI Avatar, Secures 6 Billion KRW in Seed Funding

Participation from Leading Domestic and Global Investors

Pickle, a startup developing real-time avatar (clone) services based on artificial intelligence (AI), announced on June 5 that it has secured a total of 6 billion KRW in seed investment from major domestic and international venture capital (VC) firms. This round included participation from domestic firm Base Ventures, as well as Silicon Valley VCs such as Level Fund and Pioneer Fund. Previously, Pickle had received pre-seed investment from Y Combinator, NFX, and Crew Capital.

The face scanned through the AI service Pickle generated as various clones with different appearances

Founded in September 2024, Pickle is an AI startup that offers “AI Self,” a service that allows users to recreate their face and voice in real time without a camera. By scanning their face for just six seconds, users can instantly generate various clones suitable for video conferences, social networking, and live streaming. Pickle’s proprietary voice-video generative foundation model enables an ultra-low latency environment, minimizing delays between video and audio, and precisely preserving users’ expressions and individuality. In addition, the service is equipped with a deepfake misuse prevention module, which is a key feature for ensuring security and reliability.

In May 2025, Pickle experienced explosive growth, with 200 new users joining each day and a fivefold increase in total users within just one month. Of all users, 70% are based in the United States and 20% in Europe, and on average, users utilize Pickle avatars for meetings or online gatherings more than five times per week.

Park Chaekeun, CEO of Pickle, stated, “As of early 2025, generative video AI models are evolving faster than ever before. With this seed investment, Pickle aims to become the most everyday yet innovative AI product for people to express themselves and communicate with others.”