KT invests $2 million strategically in Sond Health for voice biomarker development

Im Seung-hyuk, Executive Director of KT Digital & Bio Health Business Group (first from the left), is seen having a preliminary conversation with representatives from Sond Health before signing a strategic partnership. Photo by KT

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Soo-yeon] KT announced on the 10th that it will pursue a strategic investment of 2 million dollars (approximately 2.7 billion KRW) in the U.S. voice biomarker development company 'Sonde Health' and engage in business cooperation.

This is the second overseas strategic investment following KT's investment in NeuroSigma, a U.S. electronic medicine development company, in the digital healthcare sector.

Sonde Health is a company that possesses technology to predict multiple diseases such as mental health and respiratory disorders by utilizing voice biomarkers. Voice biomarkers are indicators that analyze subtle changes in voice (sound) such as intensity, pitch, and vocal cord movement to monitor physical condition and predict diseases. It is the same principle as the change in voice when one has a sore throat.

In particular, Sonde Health holds the world's largest scale of health status data according to voice changes, which is the core of voice biomarker development. Global leading companies such as Qualcomm and GN Group have also formed partnerships and are developing businesses.

The global market research firm CMI forecasts that the global voice biomarker market will record a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.5% and reach approximately 6 trillion KRW by 2027. Voice biomarkers are gaining attention as an auxiliary means of patient monitoring as infrastructure capable of utilizing voice technology such as smartphones expands and non-face-to-face medical care increases due to COVID-19.

Starting with this investment, KT will establish a business cooperation relationship with Sonde Health. KT plans to advance its AI voice-based businesses, including call centers and AI speakers, by utilizing Sonde Health's technology. KT has steadily secured voice-based technologies such as AI speakers and AI solutions for diagnosing dysphagia.

Additionally, KT plans to apply voice biomarker technology to the remote medical services it is promoting in Vietnam.

Song Jae-ho, Vice President and Head of KT AI/DX Convergence Business Division, said, "KT is promoting various businesses based on voice, so we expect a high possibility of linkage with voice biomarker technology," and added, "Based on the excellent technological competitiveness of Sonde Health, in which we invested, we will seek synergy with KT's domestic and overseas businesses."

David Liu, CEO of Sonde Health, stated, "We are pleased to introduce Sonde's voice biomarker technology to Korea together with KT, a leading digital platform company in South Korea, through this cooperation," and added, "Going forward, both companies will strive to grow KT's key businesses into differentiated services worldwide, not only in the medical field."

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