Korea medical tech start-up raises $20m Series B

Klim, a healthcare-focused accelerator set up in March 2020, provided a Series A of undisclosed size the following month. Previous investors include Spring Camp and Tech Incubator Program for Startups.

Klim closed a vehicle called Klim Airs Fund last November with KRW 5.6bn (USD 4.1m) in commitments, although the connection with Airs Medical is unclear. The Klim IBK Medical Fund – backed by Industrial Bank of Korea – closed on KRW 3.9bn last year.

Q Capital, founded in 1982 as Korea Development Investment Finance, is among the country’s oldest private equity firms. It is active in large buyouts but also makes investments as small as KRW 3bn.

Airs is best known for its use of artificial intelligence (AI) in diagnostics and MRI scans. Its lead product, an MRI software called SwiftMR, is said to enhance images and contribute to a higher level of data accuracy and better patient experience. In 2021, the software was approved by both the Korean and US food and drug safety authorities.

SwiftMR has been used in more than 130,000 MRI exams in Korea since its launch in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to a statement. The plan is to take the software to the US, Southeast Asia, Europe, and South America with support from Born2Global, a Korean accelerator, the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, and US healthcare incubator Matter.

Recent progress includes the acquisition of ArtiQ, an AI and robotics start-up with expertise in in-vitro diagnostics and the automation of blood collection from veins. ArtiQ received investment from Spring Camp in 2019 and two rounds from Klim in 2020 and 2021, the latter of which amounted to KRW 3.5bn.

“Airs Medical and ArtiQ together is a team that sets and achieves very high standards regarding talent acquisition and technology development in all aspects of R&D and commercialisation,” Honggyu Nam, CEO of Klim, said in a separate statement.

“What I witnessed while working together for a long time was that both teams were able to achieve outstanding results based on their sincerity and challenging spirit to create healthy values for our society. So, when the merger was decided, I was convinced that explosive synergies would be created, and I was more excited than ever.”

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Healthcare
• Technology
• Early-stage
• South Korea
• artificial intelligence
• medical devices
• robotics