KT's Koo Hyun-mo to Foster Digital Healthcare and Bio Unicorns

Formation of a 20 Billion KRW Specialized Investment Fund
Partnering with Incheon Creative Economy Innovation Center
Selecting 9 Promising Venture Companies

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] KT, which has identified bio and smart logistics as future new growth engines, is creating a startup investment fund worth a total of 20 billion KRW to nurture unicorn companies in the digital and biohealth sectors.

KT announced on the 21st that it selected nine startups through the digital and biohealth specialized accelerating program 'Next Jump-up' in collaboration with the Incheon Creative Economy Innovation Center.

The program selected nine venture companies at the early investment stage below Series A, including bio, AI-based diagnostic support solutions, digital therapeutics, and digital healthcare. These include digital healthcare and therapeutics companies such as ▲Doctor Detail, ▲Doctor Diary, ▲Three J, ▲All-round Doctors, and ▲Huca System, as well as bio companies such as ▲Genopix, ▲Synergy AI, ▲MTG, and ▲Floyd. Most of these companies provide non-face-to-face solutions, aligning with KT's 'Digico (Digital Platform Company) KT' strategy.

KT, the Incheon Creative Economy Innovation Center, and partner organizations such as Big Bang Angels provide selected startups with office space support, investment attraction, networking opportunities, and support for launching KT business-linked services. In particular, companies that demonstrate outstanding performance during the program operation period and are selected as excellent companies will receive a total of 50 million KRW in commercialization support funds, and equity investment will also be considered. Quad Ventures will manage the fund.

KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo added 'freight transportation and freight forwarding' and 'manufacturing and sales of medical devices' to the business objectives at the regular shareholders' meeting in March, stating, "We will challenge high-growth new businesses that will determine the future, such as biohealth." This is an effort to diversify the business structure following existing AI, big data, cloud, and content. KT is currently conducting domestic and international business in partnership with NeuroSigma, a U.S. electronic medicine development company, and jointly developing a hospitalization risk management service for heart failure patients with Novartis Korea.

Startup achievements will also be fostered in a way that enhances synergy with KT's ABC (Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Cloud) technologies as well as KT Enterprise, the B2B division. KT aims to discover promising startups and create a partnership ecosystem to establish a virtuous cycle for coexistence between large corporations and startups.

Kim Hyung-wook, Vice President and Head of KT Future Value Promotion Office, said, "Since last year, KT has selected digital and biohealth businesses as new growth engines and has actively pursued market entry," adding, "We plan to provide generous support for the growth and development of startups."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.