Metainnotech, a South Korean startup specializing in solutions for reducing noise between floors in apartment buildings, has been selected for the ‘Little Penguin’ startup support program by the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT) and has secured 1 billion KRW (approximately 750,000 USD) in pre-Series A funding from various investors, including Nautilus Investment. The ‘Little Penguin’ program, run by KODIT, aims to discover and support promising startups with strong technology, business potential, and creative ideas. It serves as a stepping stone to KODIT’s flagship startup support program, ‘First Penguin.’

Over the next three years, Metainnotech will receive up to 2 billion KRW (approximately 1.5 million USD) in guarantee support. If the company demonstrates strong performance, it will be eligible to advance to KODIT’s next level of support, the ‘First Penguin’ program.

Founded in January 2022, Metainnotech offers solutions such as ‘noise-reducing floor structures’ and an ‘IoT solution for reducing inter-floor noise.’ Their IoT solution is particularly noteworthy for its potential to shift the traditional approach to solving noise issues by analyzing noise data with AI and various algorithms to deliver optimized solutions.

Im Sung-won, CEO of Nautilus Investment, stated, “The issue of noise between floors in apartment complexes has long been a significant social problem in need of a solution, but progress has been slow due to a lack of technological innovation. We believe that CEO Jo Kwang-mook and his development team, with their experience and expertise in this field, are well-positioned to provide a viable solution.”

Jo Kwang-mook, CEO of Metainnotech, expressed, “Being selected for KODIT’s Little Penguin program and successfully securing this investment further validates our technology and potential to address inter-floor noise issues. With this foundation, we will expand our research facilities and enhance our solutions to offer effective remedies to the noise problems affecting our society.”

He added, “As social conflicts arising from inter-floor noise have been escalating recently, we plan to accelerate our research and development to provide the best possible solution and bring our service to market swiftly, leveraging the funds we’ve secured.”

Metainnotech was also selected as part of the 6th batch in Daejeon for the ‘IBK Changgong’ innovation startup development program run by IBK Industrial Bank of Korea. In August of this year, the company won the top prize in the startup category at the ‘2024 Real Estate Service Industry Startup Competition’ organized by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, further solidifying its recognition as a leader in providing solutions for inter-floor noise issues.