NAVER D2SF Invests in Voice AI Evaluation Startup Podonos

September 10, 2025
NAVER D2SF has invested in Podonos, a North American startup specializing in voice AI model evaluation, marking its first institutional funding round.

NAVER D2SF has 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 participation from NAVER D2SF and KAIST Venture Investment Holdings, announced in a press release.

Podonos addresses the growing demand for performance evaluation and validation in the voice AI domain, offering comprehensive testing of pronunciation, emotion, noise tolerance, and persona alignment. The startup combines a global network of over 150,000 evaluators with its proprietary AI-driven automation engine, delivering voice AI model assessment results within 12 hours.

The company's platform is already trusted by notable voice AI startups and plans to expand into high-demand sectors such as healthcare, finance, gaming, and advertising. With this funding, Podonos aims to accelerate hiring and enhance its automated model analysis tools, collaborating with NAVER D2SF to deliver higher-quality voice services.

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