Seoul-based Medical AI Firm Lunit Secures $26m for Global Expansion

Seoul-headquartered medical artificial intelligence (AI) firm Lunit has raised ₩30 billion (US$26 million) in its Series C funding round backed by venture capital firms InterVest, IMM Investment, Kakao Ventures, and China’s Legend Capital.

In a statement, Lunit, which was founded in 2013 by Anthony Park, Donggeuon Yoo, Jungin Lee, Kyunghyun Paeng, Minghong Jang, and Sunggyun Park, said the latest funding round is its largest funding since its Series B funding last year that raise about US$15 million.

Shinhan Investment, NH Investment & Securities, and LG CNS also joined in the fundraising, which will be used by Lunit to bankroll the global expansion of its chest X-ray and mammography products and its other AI solutions.

“We will focus on the global expansion of chest X-ray and mammography products that are in the process of commercialisation with the completion of domestic and international verification through the investment,” the company said.

Lunit also plans to introduce AI in screening for lung and breast cancers.

Currently, Lunit’s products are used in Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, China, Thailand, and Taiwan. This year, the company plans to commercialise its AI technology in more countries in Europe as well as in the United States.

“We envision a near-future when our systems would greatly help physicians make accurate, consistent, and efficient clinical decisions, not limited to diagnoses, through our data-driven imaging biomarker technology,” Lunit said.

Funded by major venture capital companies, Formation 8 and SoftBank Ventures Korea, Luni has been well received by the medical community alike and is now engaged in various large-scale research partnerships with major university hospitals in Korea.

The company first raised ₩100M (US$85,600) in its Seed round in 2014 led by Kakao Ventures, one of the most active early-stage venture capital firms in South Korea. It then raised $2 million in a SoftBank Ventures Asia-led Series A in 2015 and another ₩3.7 billion (US$3.1 million) in an InterVest-led funding round in 2016.