# Luke Kim

> Luke Jinu Kim is the Founder and CEO of Liner, a San Francisco-based AI search engine used by over 12 million people across 220+ countries. Starting with $50,000 in seed money and a month on a Silicon Valley Airbnb, he turned a Chrome highlighter into the world's #2 AI search product — ranked four consecutive times on a16z's Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps list, with 2024 revenue up 341% year-over-year and $32M raised to date, including a $29M Series B backed by Samsung Venture Investment.

- **Role:** CEO & Co-Founder at Liner
- **Organizations:** Liner, Aurum Planet
- **Nationality:** Korean
- **Education:** Bachelor of Computer Science, Yonsei University, Software development training, SW Maestro Program (4th Cohort)
- **Known for:** Built Liner into a platform with 12 million+ users in 220+ countries, Only Korean AI startup to appear on a16z's Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps four consecutive times, Achieved 93.7% and 95.3% accuracy scores on OpenAI's SimpleQA benchmark

## Career timeline

- **1999-2001** — Spent part of childhood in the U.S. during the dot-com boom; first used a computer at age five
- **2011** — Graduated from Yonsei University with a degree in Computer Science
- **2012** — Registered Aurum Planet (Liner's legal entity) as an undergraduate
- **2013** — Participated in South Korea's SW Maestro program (4th cohort), credited with exponential skill growth
- **2015** — Launched Liner as a Chrome browser web highlighter with $50,000 in seed funding; spent months in a Silicon Valley Airbnb building the global product, returning to Korea with $300 remaining
- **2022** — Raised seed/Series A funding totaling $9M; company achieves 40-person team with 30M monthly web visitors
- **2023** — Launched Liner AI Search Agent within one week of ChatGPT API release (March 2023), adding LLM-powered search with source citations
- **2024** — Raised $29M Series B (led by Atinum Investment, with Samsung Venture Investment participation); revenue grew 341.3% YoY; ranked #4 on a16z's Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps
- **2024** — Selected for Google for Startups Accelerator Korea: AI First program
- **2025** — Liner ranked 6th fastest-growing private company in Bay Area by San Francisco Business Times; user base surpasses 12 million across 220+ countries

## Achievements

- Built Liner into a platform with 12 million+ users in 220+ countries
- Only Korean AI startup to appear on a16z's Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps four consecutive times
- Achieved 93.7% and 95.3% accuracy scores on OpenAI's SimpleQA benchmark
- Raised $29M Series B with Samsung Venture Investment participation
- Grew 2024 revenue 341.3% year-over-year
- 10% of UC Berkeley's student body uses Liner via official school email
- Ranked 6th fastest-growing private company in Bay Area (San Francisco Business Times)
- Partnerships with UC Berkeley, USC, University of Michigan, Texas A&M, and Yonsei University

## Latest updates

- **2025-01** — Liner ranked 6th fastest-growing private company in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times based on two-year revenue growth
- **2025-01** — Luke Kim discusses Liner's campus AI strategy in EdTech Digest, highlighting 10% UC Berkeley penetration
- **2024-10** — Liner raises $29M Series B with Samsung Venture Investment participation, bringing total cumulative funding to ~$32M
- **2024-08** — Liner ranked on a16z's Top 100 Gen AI Consumer Apps for the fourth consecutive time
- **2024-01** — Selected for Google for Startups Accelerator Korea: AI First program

## Links

- Website: https://liner.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jinukim
- Twitter/X: http://twitter.com/lukejinukim

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/luke-kim
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-16