Logo of Soombit.AI | Image provided by Soombit.AI
Soombit.AI, a medical AI company (CEO Woong Bae), announced on the 5th that it raised a seed investment of approximately 5 billion KRW (USD 3.6 million) from Altos Ventures, the sole investor in this round.
Founded by a team that previously developed a chest X-ray interpretation AI at Kakao Brain, Soombit.AI was co-founded by Woong Bae, former Chief Healthcare Officer at Kakao Brain, and CTO Saehoon Kim, who led image generation research. The team comprises members from Kakao Brain’s healthcare division.
Soombit.AI is developing “AIRead-CXR,” an AI-based draft interpretation solution for radiologists. Using generative AI, AIRead-CXR provides personalized preliminary interpretations and abnormality probabilities for various chest X-ray (CXR) findings, aiming to help radiologists interpret images faster and more accurately.
South Korea has one of the highest per capita rates of X-ray and CT scans worldwide. Demand is expected to continue rising due to advancements in diagnostic imaging and an aging population. However, the supply of radiologists remains limited, with only 4,206 radiologists as of 2023, growing at just 3.4% annually over the past decade. Consequently, radiologist burnout has reached critical levels, with a survey showing that 88% experience some degree of burnout and 62% report severe burnout.
Another study showed that radiologists using AI-generated preliminary reports for CXR saw an average 42% reduction in reading time and a 6% improvement in reading quality. AI services like AIRead-CXR are expected to boost productivity for overburdened healthcare providers and diversify medical imaging research.
Woong Bae, CEO of Soombit.AI, commented, “We’re delighted that this investment acknowledges our team’s exceptional capabilities and growth potential. As demand for imaging interpretation services is rapidly outpacing the supply of radiologists both in Korea and globally, we’ll work to establish Soombit.AI as an essential AI service for healthcare providers and patients alike by expanding our team and service offerings.”
Hae-min Jeong, an investor at Altos Ventures who led the investment, said, “The Soombit.AI team has proven its high R&D capabilities through previous product development experience and is expected to reduce healthcare providers’ workloads. Seeing the team build expertise and gain market traction under CEO Bae’s leadership convinced us that Soombit.AI can significantly impact the medical interpretation market.”
Soombit.AI also plans to expand beyond X-rays to include CT and other modalities, developing a range of customer-centered AI services.
Pangyo Techno Valley is a global integrated R&D hub focused on IT, BT, CT, and NT, integrating Research (R), People (P), Information (I), and Trade (T). As Gyeonggi-do’s representative innovation cluster, Pangyo Techno Valley was established to secure national new growth drivers such as technological innovation, human resource development, job creation, and enhancing international business competitiveness. As of 2023, 1,666 companies employ 78,751 people, and it has positioned itself as the most innovative hub in South Korea, with sales amounting to 167.7 trillion KRW (125.5 billion USD).
Furthermore, the Techno Valley Innovation Division of the Gyeonggi-do Business & Science Accelerator (GBSA) holds monthly events such as the Pangyo Evening Meet-Up, Pan-Pan Day, and the Pangyo Startup Investment Exchange “In-Best Pangyo” to maximize the value of Pangyo Techno Valley. They also support the Pangyo Overseas Promotion Program, which publicizes information about Pangyo’s companies, products, and services to domestic and foreign investors and the media, thereby facilitating foreign investment.
