Altos Ventures Invests 5 Billion KRW Seed Funding in Medical AI Company 'SumbitAI'

Medical artificial intelligence (AI) company SumbitAI has secured seed investment from Altos Ventures.

According to SumbitAI on the 5th, the investment amount is $3.6 million (approximately 5 billion KRW). Altos Ventures participated as the sole investor.

SumbitAI was founded by a team that developed a chest X-ray reading assistance AI business at Kakao Brain. The co-founders are CEO Bae Ung, who was the Chief Healthcare Officer (CHO) at Kakao Brain, and CTO Kim Sehun, who was in charge of image generation research. The team consists of personnel from Kakao Brain’s healthcare business division.

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SumbitAI is developing 'AIRead-CXR,' an AI-based draft report generation solution for radiologists. Based on generative AI, it provides personalized draft reports and abnormality probabilities for various findings detected in chest X-rays (CXR). This helps radiologists read images faster and more accurately.

South Korea has the highest number of X-ray and CT scan procedures per capita in the world. Although demand for examinations is expected to continue increasing due to advancements in medical imaging diagnostic devices and population aging, the supply of radiologists is limited. According to a survey, 88% of radiologists experience "some level of burnout," and 62% suffer from "severe burnout."

Bae Ung, CEO of SumbitAI, said, "We are pleased that this investment recognizes the outstanding capabilities and growth potential of the SumbitAI team. As the demand for image reading services worldwide, not just in Korea, is rapidly increasing beyond the supply of radiology specialists, we will do our best to establish ourselves as an indispensable medical AI service for both medical staff and patients by securing talent and expanding service areas."

Jung Haemin, an investment manager at Altos Ventures who led this investment, said, "The SumbitAI team has been recognized for their high research and development capabilities through previous product development experience and will contribute to reducing the excessive workload of medical staff. We decided to invest because we believe the SumbitAI team will make a significant mark in the medical reading market."

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