Lunit Secures Pre-IPO Funding Worth 72 Billion KRW

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Medical artificial intelligence (AI) company Lunit announced on the 24th that it has completed a pre-IPO investment round worth 72 billion KRW.

This investment round included new investors such as global healthcare-focused venture capital (VC) HealthQuest Capital, Casdin Capital, ACS BrightEdge, as well as Tybourne Capital Management based in Hong Kong and San Francisco, and NSG Ventures, a biotech-specialized investment firm based in Singapore and Boston. This additional investment comes just four months after securing 30 billion KRW from the U.S. biohealthcare company Guardant Health in July.

HealthQuest Capital is one of the leading healthcare VCs in the U.S. and this is their first investment in an Asian company outside of the U.S. and Europe. Casdin Capital is a major U.S. biotech-focused investment firm that has invested in over 150 biohealthcare companies, successfully taking about 40 of them public.

ACS BrightEdge is the investment arm of the American Cancer Society (ACS), and this is also their first investment in companies outside the U.S. and Israel. Founded in 1913, the American Cancer Society is the largest cancer research organization in the U.S. Active research activities utilizing AI, including joint research with Lunit, are highly anticipated.

Additionally, Naver Group, including Naver and Naver Cloud, joined as new investors domestically, while existing investors Legend Capital, SoftBank Ventures Asia (SBVA), IMM Investment, Kakao Ventures, and Mirae Asset Venture Investment also participated in this pre-IPO round.

Notably, all new investors, including overseas firms and Naver, have committed to a one-year lock-up period post-listing. Domestic VCs will combine the mandatory one-month lock-up with a voluntary lock-up, totaling six months of lock-up.

Seobeom Seok, CEO of Lunit, stated, "This pre-IPO is significant as it marks the first time a domestic medical device company has received investment from overseas VCs. We expect that through these investors, the company’s global business capabilities and network will grow to a new level." Lunit plans to file for preliminary review for KOSDAQ listing as early as this month once the pre-IPO is completed.

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