Soombit.AI, a medical artificial intelligence company based in South Korea, has secured a $3.6 million seed investment from Altos Ventures.

Soombit.AI was established by the team that developed chest X-ray reading assistance AI at Kakao Brain. The co-founders are CEO Woong Bae, former Chief Healthcare Officer (CHO) at Kakao Brain, and CTO Sehoon Kim, who led image generation research. The company comprises personnel from Kakao Brain’s healthcare business division.

Along with this investment, Soombit.AI will merge with KARA-CXR, Kakao’s chest X-ray image reading business subsidiary. Both companies resolved to proceed with the absorption merger through their respective shareholders’ meetings on the 21st.

Soombit.AI is developing ‘AIRead-CXR,’ an AI-based draft reading solution for radiologists. Based on generative AI, ‘AIRead-CXR’ aims to help radiologists perform faster and more accurate image readings by providing personalized draft readings and abnormality assessments for various findings in chest X-rays (CXR).

South Korea has the highest per capita X-ray and CT scan frequency globally, and demand is expected to continue rising due to advances in medical imaging technology and an aging population. However, the supply of radiologists remains limited, with only 4,206 practitioners as of 2023, showing just a 3.4% annual increase over ten years. Consequently, radiologist burnout has reached serious levels. One survey indicates that 88% of radiologists experience some degree of burnout, with 62% suffering from severe burnout.

Another study shows that radiologists using AI draft readings for chest X-rays (CXR) experienced an average 42% reduction in reading time while improving reading quality by 6%. AI-assisted medical image reading services like ‘AIRead-CXR’ are expected to enhance the productivity of overworked medical staff and contribute to expanding medical imaging research diversity.

Haemin Jung, Investment Manager at Altos Ventures, stated, “The Soombit.AI team has proven their strong R&D capabilities through previous product development experience, and we expect them to help reduce the heavy workload of medical staff. After observing how the team, strongly united under CEO Woong Bae, built their capabilities and convinced the market, we decided to invest, believing they will make a significant impact in the medical reading market.”

CEO Woong Bae expressed, “We are pleased to receive recognition for our team’s excellent capabilities and growth potential through this investment. As the demand for image reading services is rapidly outpacing the supply of radiologists worldwide, not just in Korea, we will do our best to become an indispensable medical AI service for both medical staff and patients through talent acquisition and service expansion.”

Meanwhile, Soombit.AI plans to expand its AI services beyond X-rays to include various modalities such as CT scans.