'Samsung Electronics' First Spin-off' Soltide Secures Bridge Investment

POSCO Technology Investment, Shinhan Capital, and KB Securities Participate
Business Expansion from Insoles to Brain Disease Prediction

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Digital healthcare company Solted has successfully secured investment. Despite the frozen investment sentiment, its growth potential was recognized.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 30th, Solted recently secured 4 billion KRW in investment funds. This round included participation from POSCO Technology Investment, Shinhan Capital, and KB Securities. They secured various financial investors (FIs) including venture capital (VC), capital firms, and securities companies. It is evaluated that their technology and marketability were recognized.

Salted's smart insole (shoe insert).

Since 2019, they have actively injected external funds. They attracted 2.5 billion KRW in Series A investment from Michigan Venture Capital, Inlight Ventures, Shinhan Investment Corp., and Koramco Asset Management. Then, at the end of last year, they received 7 billion KRW in Series B investment from Inlight Ventures and Shinhan Alternative Investment Management. Subsequently, they welcomed new FIs through bridge investment.

Solted was established in 2015 as a spin-off from Samsung Electronics C-Lab’s first batch. They developed a smart insole (shoe insole) embedded with an artificial intelligence (AI)-based pressure sensor. The business is expanding mainly in the golf and running sectors. The smart insole is an Internet of Things (IoT)-based wearable device that provides information to improve posture correction and body shape analysis accuracy in various sports such as fitness and golf through data on the center of gravity and weight shift.

The smart insole measures pressure applied to the soles during aerobic exercises such as walking and running, as well as bodyweight exercises like one-legged standing and squats, through four sensors embedded in the insole. It provides real-time exercise analysis data to users via a dedicated mobile application. It has received IP68 waterproof rating certification, making it dustproof and waterproof. It can be easily charged using a magnetic connector.

Since last year, Solted declared its transition to a digital healthcare company. They are conducting clinical trials of the smart insole in collaboration with Bundang Seoul National University Hospital, Asan Medical Center, and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Korea University College of Medicine. Clinical trials will also begin within the year in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. In particular, the smart insole ‘NEUROGAIT 3.0’ with wireless charging technology has been recognized for its value as a medical device, giving momentum to the digital healthcare business.

Recently, Solted signed a technology transfer agreement with the AI and Robotics Research Institute of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) for an AI-based degenerative brain disease prediction platform. Through this technology transfer agreement, Solted plans to actively develop a digital healthcare business that predicts sarcopenia and degenerative brain diseases (MCI, dementia, Parkinson’s, etc.) by integrating KIST’s algorithm technology with their self-developed wearable device smart insole and real-time plantar pressure data analysis algorithm.

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