# Liner

> Liner is an AI search engine built for students, researchers, and knowledge workers who need answers they can trust. Founded in 2012 as a web highlighter and rebuilt around large language models after GPT-3, the company now serves roughly 12 million monthly users across more than 200 countries, pairing conversational answers with transparent citations from academic papers and vetted sources. Headquartered in San Francisco with roots in Seoul, Liner positions itself as a source-grounded alternative to general chatbots and to Google's search box.

- **Founded:** 2012
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founders:** Jinu Kim (Co-founder & CEO (also goes by Luke Jinu Kim)), Brian Chanmin Woo (Co-founder)
- **Team size:** ~110 employees
- **Products:** Liner (AI Search), Liner Copilot (Browser Extension), Liner Scholar, Liner Write, Research Agents
- **Notable:** CEO Jinu Kim named to Forbes '33 AI Founders to Watch' in 2025, Grew from a 2012 web highlighter to ~12 million monthly users across 220+ countries, Raised $29M Series B in October 2024 led by InterVest and Atinum Investment

## Products & services

- **Liner (AI Search)** — An AI search engine that answers questions with responses grounded in academic papers, authoritative publications, and verified references, citing every source.
- **Liner Copilot (Browser Extension)** — A Chrome extension to highlight, ask, and summarize on any webpage, PDF, or YouTube video - the evolution of Liner's original web highlighter.
- **Liner Scholar** — An academic-focused mode for literature review, citation recommendation, and research aimed at students and researchers.
- **Liner Write** — An AI writing assistant that produces source-backed drafts and content.
- **Research Agents** — Agentic tools for hypothesis generation, citation recommendation, literature review, and peer-review support - a key monetization driver.
- **Liner API** — Programmatic access to Liner's source-grounded search for developers and B2B use cases.

## Achievements

- CEO Jinu Kim named to Forbes '33 AI Founders to Watch' in 2025
- Grew from a 2012 web highlighter to ~12 million monthly users across 220+ countries
- Raised $29M Series B in October 2024 led by InterVest and Atinum Investment
- Rebranded from getliner.com to the premium liner.com domain
- Cited as one of the world's most capital-efficient AI startups
- Korean monthly active users grew ~2.5x between January 2025 and January 2026

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Korean monthly active users reported to have grown roughly 2.5x year over year, with continued global expansion.
- **2025-01** — Jinu Kim named to Forbes' 33 AI Founders to Watch; Liner highlighted in EdTech coverage of student research tools.
- **2024-10** — Closed $29M Series B and rebranded to liner.com.

## Links

- Website: https://liner.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/liner21
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/getliner

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/liner
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-14