Retriever, which provides the AI-based information security management system certification response automation solution Klarisk, said on June 9 it raised pre-seed funding from Mashup Ventures.

The company said Klarisk supports companies in using AI to automate governance, risk and compliance (GRC) work.

AI analyses a range of corporate data, including policies, procedures, system settings and operational records, to identify compliance status and potential risks and to suggest improvements.

Beyond checklist-based inspections, an AI agent that understands regulations and internal controls evaluates evidence materials and operational status and continuously manages organisation-wide risk, the company explained.

Retriever CEO Lee Yong-jae (이용재) said the company will advance its AI-based technology for understanding and judging regulations to reduce corporate costs and workloads involved in preparing for information security management system certification. He said the company will expand from ISMS-P to global certification frameworks such as ISO 27001 and SOC 2 to lead stronger security capabilities across the industry and support Korean companies' overseas expansion.

Retriever was selected for the TIPS programme run by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on a recommendation from Mashup Ventures, securing up to 500 million won in R&D funding. It was also selected as a partner company for the NongHyup open business hub collaboration and is conducting technology verification of AI-based automation for information security and compliance management systems.

Mashup Ventures partner Lee Seung-kuk (이승국), who led the investment, said companies are facing heavier costs and worsening labour shortages as information security regulations at home and abroad tighten, including amendments to the Personal Information Protection Act, amid a range of recent security incidents. He said Mashup decided to invest after concluding that the Retriever team, with deep expertise in natural language processing and cyber security, would drive market innovation based on stable technological capabilities.