The archive · AI & Models · Product decision · 2025–2026
ReverseTok bets AI digital twins of influencers can top Korea's app charts
Highmaru's ReverseTok lets fans chat, call, and play missions with AI twins of 700+ creators — and hit #1 on both Korean app stores at launch
ReverseTok (Highmaru Company / 하이마루컴퍼니)
What the business is
ReverseTok is a Korean AI influencer platform where fans chat by text or voice, join missions, and make 1:1 AI video calls with digital twins of real creators, with premium rights to call the actual influencer.
Starting capital：₩8 billion (~US$5.5M) announced Dec 2025: SB Partners ₩2B tranche and SmartStudy Ventures ₩6B tranche, with later tranches to follow
How it started
Seoul-based Highmaru, previously an AI and visual-content company, hired Jaeil Seo — a former Samsung SDS executive vice president who ran overseas subsidiaries in Europe and Southeast Asia — to lead the pivot into ReverseTok. Seo's thesis: influencer content is one-directional and creators have physical limits on how many fans they can serve, so an AI twin that preserves the creator's persona can turn fandom into an always-on relationship.
What happened
In December 2025 ReverseTok closed ₩8 billion from SB Partners and SmartStudy Ventures, and Highmaru signed a strategic partnership with Japan's in2x, an AI storytelling and character-chat app. The platform launched around mid-April 2026 with hundreds of creators — MoneyToday counts 700+, spanning TikTokers, models, broadcasters, and fitness and beauty influencers. Mechanics include a mission board where fans complete creator-set challenges for personalized rewards, real-time 1:1 AI video calls, and a gauge system that grants a premium three-minute call with the actual influencer once completed. Highmaru announced plans for hybrid live commerce in May 2026 and a goal of 100,000 Korean users before expanding to Korea, China, Japan, and the US toward 1 million members.
How it ended up
Still running and expanding: as of late April 2026 ReverseTok held the top overall spot on both Korean app stores at launch and was preparing hybrid AI-human live commerce plus regional expansion.
Background
ReverseTok is a Korean AI platform that recreates real influencers as digital twins — same look, voice, and speaking style — so fans can interact with them around the clock. Operated by Highmaru Company under CEO Jaeil Seo, a former Samsung SDS executive vice president, it launched in mid-April 2026 and reached the top of both Korea's Apple App Store and Google Play overall charts at launch, per MoneyToday and Platum.
The product sits between a chatbot and a fan club: text and voice conversations, a mission board where creators set challenges and reward successful fans with personalized video messages, songs, or dances, and 1:1 AI video calls with the creator's avatar. Completing an interaction gauge earns a premium three-minute call with the actual human influencer. MoneyToday reports more than 700 top creators active on the platform, from TikTokers and models to broadcasters and fitness stars.
Highmaru had already raised ₩8 billion from SB Partners and SmartStudy Ventures in December 2025 and partnered with Japan's in2x on character-chat technology. The company's stated roadmap was 100,000 Korean users, hybrid AI-human live commerce from May 2026, and then expansion across Korea, China, Japan, and the US toward one million members.
What has to be true
- Real-creator digital twins gave fans a reason to pay that anonymous AI companions lack — the persona is licensed, promoted by the influencer, and tied to actual fandom.
- Fan-economy mechanics (missions, personalized rewards, real 3-minute calls) monetized the gap between creator time and fan demand.
- Hiring a Samsung SDS executive to lead the pivot brought enterprise AI and global sales experience to a consumer entertainment bet.
- Launch-day dual #1 chart positions proved the creator-led distribution loop worked without paid user acquisition.
What can be applied
For fan economies, the scarce asset is not content but the creator's time — cloning the persona turns one-to-many posts into many-to-one relationships people will pay for.
Aftermath
As of April 20, 2026, ReverseTok held the #1 overall spot on both Korea's Apple App Store and Google Play at launch, with 700+ creators per MoneyToday. Highmaru was moving next into hybrid AI-human broadcast commerce in May 2026 and planning phased expansion to Korea, China, Japan, and the US, targeting 100,000 domestic users first and one million members globally. Open questions remain: whether fandom sustains after the novelty charts fade, and how consent and likeness rights evolve as AI-twin platforms scale.
Sources
- AI 인플루언서 소통 플랫폼 '리버스톡', 출시와 동시에 양대 앱마켓 1위
- AI 인플루언서 소통 플랫폼 '리버스톡', 양대 앱마켓 전체 1위 차지
- '리버스톡' 개발사 '하이마루컴퍼니', 80억원 투자 유치
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