AIRS Medical, a healthcare startup based in South Korea and a member of the Born2Global Centre, has announced a $20 million Series B funding round. The Series B funding round included new investors Q Capital Partners and Hanwha Life, as well as additional funds from Klim Ventures, which had previously contributed to the startup’s Series A funding.
AIRS Medical, founded in October 2018 by graduates of Seoul National University, is a startup that uses digitalized, AI-based diagnostic tests and robotics technologies to provide a better clinical experience for both patients and healthcare providers.
AIRS Medical has won the 2019 and 2020 fastMRI Challenge, co-hosted by Facebook AI Research (FAIR) and NYU Langone Health, for its deep learning MR image reconstruction technology. Following these victories, the startup successfully developed and commercialized its SwiftMR technology, which it has been using to benefit the larger healthcare community.
SwiftMR is AI-powered MRI reconstruction software that improves MR images acquired under a variety of conditions, resulting in higher data accuracy and a better patient experience. The software was approved by both the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2021. SwiftMR has been used for an average of 30,000 monthly MRI exams and a total of over 130,000 MRI exams since its official commercial launch in Korea in the fourth quarter of 2021. Following the successful implementation of the software’s business model in the domestic market, AIRS Medical is now introducing its software in other parts of the world, including the United States, Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America, with the assistance of Born2Global and the KOSME-MATTER US Market Adoption Program.
In March 2022, AIRS Medical acquired artiQ, an AI- and robotics-based startup that shared AIRS Medical’s vision of a world without sickness. AIRS Medical successfully added in-vitro diagnostics to its technology portfolio, which also includes venipuncture automation, as a result of the acquisition. Moving forward, AIRS Medical intends to use its exceptional technology and clinical expertise to introduce consecutive diagnostic test solutions that innovate the medical industry’s cost structure.
