[Seoul, November 5, 2024] Soombit.ai (CEO: Woong Bae) announced today that it has successfully secured seed funding of KRW 5 billion (approximately USD 3.6 million) from Altos Ventures, the sole participant in this funding round.

Founded by a team formerly responsible for AI-powered radiology support solutions at KakaoBrain, Soombit.ai was co-founded by CEO Woong Bae, former Chief Healthcare Officer (CHO) of KakaoBrain, and CTO Saehoon Kim, who previously led image generation research. The team is composed of former members of KakaoBrain’s healthcare business division.

Soombit.ai is developing “AIRead-CXR,” an AI-powered solution designed to assist radiologists by generating preliminary radiology reports. Based on generative AI technology, AIRead-CXR aims to provide radiologists with personalized preliminary reports and probabilities of abnormalities for chest X-rays (CXR), enabling faster and more accurate interpretation.

South Korea has the highest per capita X-ray and CT scan frequency globally. As the demand for diagnostic imaging continues to grow due to technological advancements and an aging population, the limited supply of radiologists poses significant challenges. As of 2023, there were only 4,206 radiologists in Korea, with an annual growth rate of just 3.4% over the past decade. This has led to severe burnout among radiologists, with 88% reporting some degree of burnout and 62% experiencing severe burnout.

Research demonstrates that utilizing AI-generated preliminary reports for chest X-rays can reduce interpretation time by an average of 42% while improving report quality by 6%. Solutions like AIRead-CXR are expected to enhance the productivity of overburdened medical professionals and contribute to expanding the diversity of medical imaging research. "We are thrilled that this funding validates the exceptional capabilities and growth potential of the Soombit.ai team," said CEO Woong Bae. “With global demand for diagnostic services outpacing the supply of radiologists, we will focus on talent acquisition and expanding our service offerings to establish ourselves as an indispensable provider of medical AI solutions for both healthcare professionals and patients.”

Min Jeong, Investment Manager at Altos Ventures, who led the funding, commented, "The Soombit.ai team has demonstrated outstanding R&D capabilities through their previous product development experience and is poised to alleviate the heavy workload of medical professionals. Seeing the team’s cohesive effort, led by CEO Woong Bae, to build expertise and gain market traction, we firmly believe that Soombit.ai will make a significant impact in the diagnostic imaging market."

Looking ahead, Soombit.ai plans to expand its solutions beyond X-rays to include various modalities such as CT scans, developing a wide range of customer-centric AI services.

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Soombit.ai leverages cutting-edge AI technology to revolutionize radiology workflows by drastically reducing interpretation time and enhancing convenience for radiologists.