The ‘Korea Promising AI Startup 2024’ event, which discovers and supports promising domestic artificial intelligence (AI) startups, was held at the Sofitel Ambassador Hotel in Sincheon-dong, Seoul on the 17th. From the fifth from the left in the front row, Lim Jeong-wook, head of the Startup and Venture Innovation Office of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Choi Yang-hee, vice-chairman of the National Science and Technology Advisory Council, KT CEO Kim Young-seop, Korea Economic Daily President Kim Jeong-ho, and Korea Venture Capital Association Chairman Yoon Geon-soo. Reporter Hyuk Choi, LoN Surgical, which has developed a surgical robot that removes kidney stones using artificial intelligence (AI), and Nota, an AI model company collaborating with NVIDIA and ARM, have secured over 150 customers within one year of its establishment. Dalpa, an AI solution company… . Korea’s 20 ‘national representative’ AI startups have emerged. This is through ‘Korea Promising AI Startup,’ a private project to discover AI unicorn companies (unlisted companies with a corporate value of more than $1 billion).
Korea Economic Daily and KT held the ‘Korea Promising AI Startup (KPAS) 2024’ event at the Sofitel Ambassador Hotel in Jamsil, Seoul on the 17th. The reason the two companies began discovering and supporting promising AI startups is because competition in each country surrounding this field is intensifying. To date, over 200 AI unicorn companies have been created in the United States, China, Canada, and India. However, Korea has not yet produced a single one.
Most companies leading the global AI industry are startups, such as Open AI (USA), Stability AI (UK), Mistral AI (France), and DeepL (Germany). In Korea, 20 companies that were finalized as promising startups, including Rabble Up, Superb AI, Hyper Excel, and Mark Vision, are growing into key companies in the domestic AI industry. Selected companies will receive benefits such as technology development and commercialization consulting, public relations/marketing, and investment attraction support from Hankyung and KT.
In his congratulatory address, Minister of SMEs and Startups Oh Young-joo said, “In the global market, AI startups such as OpenAI are creating new markets with innovative technologies,” and added, “In order to win the winner-takes-all global AI technology competition, we must also develop national capabilities to foster AI startups.” “We need to focus,” he emphasized.
KT CEO Kim Young-seop said, “I hope that promising startups in Korea will sprout up like bamboo shoots after rain and see results.”
Discovering 20 future AI unicorn companies… Cloud, semiconductor, robot, drone, etc.
Integrating AI with various industries… Demonstrated potential to create new markets
Denso Ten, a Japanese Toyota subsidiary, recently introduced the ‘Superb Platform’ from domestic artificial intelligence (AI) startup Superb AI. The Superb platform is a solution that supports AI learning data generation, AI model creation and distribution, etc. With this solution, Densoten increased the accuracy of data labeling (generating data for AI learning) and automated related tasks.
Mark Vision detects counterfeit products using AI in online commerce platforms. The company’s sales in the first quarter of this year increased more than 30 times compared to three years ago. Global companies such as French luxury goods group Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) are also Markvision customers. In recognition of the company’s growth and technological prowess, it recently attracted an additional 22 billion won in investment in Series A (commercialization stage).
○Selection of promising startups through screening
The 20 promising startups selected for ‘Korea Promising AI Startup 2024 (KPAS 2024)’ are the vanguard of innovation in the Korean AI ecosystem. It is also a strong candidate for growth into a unicorn company (unlisted company with a corporate value of 1 billion won or more). The average corporate value of the selected companies is around 100 billion won. Series A companies accounted for the largest number, accounting for more than half.
The Korea Economic Daily and KT reviewed with domestic AI industry experts and selected 20 companies. The purpose of this event is to support excellent domestic AI startups and help the healthy growth of the Korean AI industry ecosystem at a time when AI is accelerating various industrial innovations and digital transformation. We focused on areas that can grow by creating new markets by leading the convergence with other industries such as cloud, AI models, and semiconductors.
The number of companies in the ‘AI service’ field, which provides AI-based automation and prediction solutions to various industries, was the largest at 8. Ineasy has developed a solution that increases production efficiency and reduces energy costs in manufacturing industrial processes.
Dime Research has secured ‘swarm control’ technology that optimizes logistics robot systems using AI. Datarise provides data analysis and customer relationship management (CRM) services through AI prediction models, mainly in the financial and distribution fields.
Mark Vision recently introduced ‘Mark AI’, a generative AI-based integrated solution based on investment funds. Imago Works uses AI, computer-aided design (CAD), and cloud technology to automate essential manual tasks in the dental treatment process. Loen Surgical developed the endoscopic surgery robot ‘Jamenics’. With the help of AI, it helps to accurately find and remove stones in the kidneys.
Near Lab is an AI-based drone company. At the 3rd Minister of National Defense Dronebot Challenge, it won the grand prize in the ‘Attack Drone Category’, which competes between ‘Killer Drone’ and ‘Swarm Drone’ categories. MUHAYU recently released the Japanese version of ‘GPT Killer’ and attracted industry attention. AI analyzes the document and determines whether it was written with generative AI.
○Semiconductor innovation with AI model
Five places were selected in the ‘AI Cloud’ field, which efficiently supports AI model development, distribution, and management using cloud facilities. RavelUp provides a solution that allows AI developers to learn and deploy machine learning models using graphics processing units (GPUs). Dalpa helps customers introduce customized AI solutions based on the cloud.
BethleAI provides a machine learning operations (MLOps) platform for AI model development, learning, deployment, and operation. Allganize recently launched ‘Alpha-Instruction’, a large-scale language model (LLM) that is strong in Korean language practice. Select Star is developing an AI-based mental health care service by participating in the government’s ‘super large AI-based psychological care service support project’.
Four companies were selected in the ‘AI model’ field, including AI learning model development and optimization, LLM, and multimodal models. Nota has built a lightweight AI model and developed technology to support AI services even in small devices. Superb AI provides an integrated platform that processes data selection, processing, analysis, and management for AI development. Aureum Planet operates ‘Liner,’ an AI-based customized search service. Friendly AI has developed a solution that allows customers to use LLM in a customized way.
Three companies were selected in ‘AI Semiconductor’, which supports the design and development of AI semiconductors such as GPUs and the performance enhancement of AI-related facilities. HyperXcel produces semiconductors specialized for LLM. MetisX is creating intelligent memory solutions that effectively process large-scale data.
Dinoticia announced last month that it would develop an AI-based medical image analysis system with Korea University Anam Hospital.
Reporter Kim Joo-wan kjwan@hankyung.com
