Medical Device Startup MedInTech Secures Early-Stage Investment from FuturePlay
Medical device startup MedInTech (CEO Chi-won Lee, https://medintech.co.kr/) announced on the 28th that it has secured early-stage investment from FuturePlay. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.
MedInTech is a startup founded in February by CEO Chi-won Lee and CTO Myung-jun Kim, originating as a spin-off from the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI). The co-founders jointly developed core motorization technologies for surgical robots while attending graduate school at Seoul National University. Based on these technologies, they combined KERI’s medical screening endoscope technology to develop a next-generation medical endoscopy system and secured related patents.
Conventional mechanical endoscope scopes used for screening procedures in the industry require operators to control two separate directions—up/down and left/right—and to apply approximately 10 newtons (N) of force using only the thumb, which has resulted in musculoskeletal injuries among many endoscopists.
MedInTech is developing an improved flexible endoscope that features motorized control of the scope’s operation unit and reduces overall weight by half, enabling more intuitive and convenient operation. Through this approach, the company expects to significantly reduce physician fatigue and enhance procedural safety, thereby addressing the limitations of existing endoscopes. In addition, the company is expected to make a substantial contribution to the localization of medical screening endoscopes, a market that currently relies heavily on Japanese-made products.
MedInTech is developing an improved flexible endoscope that features motorized control of the scope’s operation unit and reduces its weight by half, allowing for intuitive and convenient operation. Through this method, the company expects to significantly reduce physician fatigue and ensure procedural safety, thereby resolving issues associated with conventional endoscopes. It is also anticipated to contribute greatly to the localization of medical screening endoscopes, which are currently largely dependent on Japanese products.
CEO Chi-won Lee and CTO Myung-jun Kim of MedInTech stated, “Through this investment, we plan to accelerate medical device regulatory approval and mass production,” adding, “MedInTech aims to become a leading company that embeds the expertise of Korea’s top medical professionals into a wide range of medical devices to deliver high-quality healthcare services to more people.”
Jae-woong Choi, Investment Manager at FuturePlay, which led the investment, commented, “Flexible endoscopy is a large market with approximately 12 million procedures performed annually in Korea. MedInTech is a startup seeking to enter a flexible endoscope market dominated by Japanese companies, leveraging its high level of mechanical and optical completeness as a core competitive advantage.” He added, “We decided to invest after recognizing the founding team’s technological capabilities, including significantly simpler operation and higher resolution compared to existing endoscopes.”
Meanwhile, since its early days, MedInTech has been recognized for its strong technological capabilities and was selected for the 2020 Preliminary Startup Package by the Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation. The company has also received commercialization funding and mentoring through various programs, including the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s Next-Generation Medical Device 100 Project (customized mentoring program), the Startup Growth Technology Development Program by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the K-Global Program by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the IP Narae Program by the Korea Invention Promotion Association, and the Technology Commercialization Support Program (linked to technology transfer) by the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute. In addition, MedInTech has demonstrated active progress toward commercialization by winning awards at programs such as KDB Startup 2020 and K-Global@China 2020, hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
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https://www.venturesquare.net/820789
https://www.donga.com/news/article/all/20201228/104666098/1
https://mirakle.mk.co.kr/view.php?year=2020&no=1325120
http://it.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2020/12/28/2020122801693.html
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http://www.mdtoday.co.kr/mdtoday/index.html?no=410296
http://www.startuptoday.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=41067
https://www.metroseoul.co.kr/article/20201228500018
https://www.ebn.co.kr/news/view/1465671
https://www.betanews.net/article/1247723
http://dongascience.donga.com/news/view/42722
https://www.edaily.co.kr/news/read?newsId=03509606626003112&mediaCodeNo=257&OutLnkChk=Y
https://www.fetv.co.kr/news/article.html?no=72702
Medical Device Startup MedInTech Secures Early-Stage Investment from FuturePlay
Medical device startup MedInTech (CEO Chi-won Lee, https://medintech.co.kr/) announced on the 28th that it has secured early-stage investment from FuturePlay. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.
MedInTech is a startup founded in February by CEO Chi-won Lee and CTO Myung-jun Kim, originating as a spin-off from the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (KERI). The co-founders jointly developed core motorization technologies for surgical robots while attending graduate school at Seoul National University. Based on these technologies, they combined KERI’s medical screening endoscope technology to develop a next-generation medical endoscopy system and secured related patents.
Conventional mechanical endoscope scopes used for screening procedures in the industry require operators to control two separate directions—up/down and left/right—and to apply approximately 10 newtons (N) of force using only the thumb, which has resulted in musculoskeletal injuries among many endoscopists.
MedInTech is developing an improved flexible endoscope that features motorized control of the scope’s operation unit and reduces overall weight by half, enabling more intuitive and convenient operation. Through this approach, the company expects to significantly reduce physician fatigue and enhance procedural safety, thereby addressing the limitations of existing endoscopes. In addition, the company is expected to make a substantial contribution to the localization of medical screening endoscopes, a market that currently relies heavily on Japanese-made products.
MedInTech is developing an improved flexible endoscope that features motorized control of the scope’s operation unit and reduces its weight by half, allowing for intuitive and convenient operation. Through this method, the company expects to significantly reduce physician fatigue and ensure procedural safety, thereby resolving issues associated with conventional endoscopes. It is also anticipated to contribute greatly to the localization of medical screening endoscopes, which are currently largely dependent on Japanese products.
CEO Chi-won Lee and CTO Myung-jun Kim of MedInTech stated, “Through this investment, we plan to accelerate medical device regulatory approval and mass production,” adding, “MedInTech aims to become a leading company that embeds the expertise of Korea’s top medical professionals into a wide range of medical devices to deliver high-quality healthcare services to more people.”
Jae-woong Choi, Investment Manager at FuturePlay, which led the investment, commented, “Flexible endoscopy is a large market with approximately 12 million procedures performed annually in Korea. MedInTech is a startup seeking to enter a flexible endoscope market dominated by Japanese companies, leveraging its high level of mechanical and optical completeness as a core competitive advantage.” He added, “We decided to invest after recognizing the founding team’s technological capabilities, including significantly simpler operation and higher resolution compared to existing endoscopes.”
Meanwhile, since its early days, MedInTech has been recognized for its strong technological capabilities and was selected for the 2020 Preliminary Startup Package by the Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation. The company has also received commercialization funding and mentoring through various programs, including the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s Next-Generation Medical Device 100 Project (customized mentoring program), the Startup Growth Technology Development Program by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the K-Global Program by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the IP Narae Program by the Korea Invention Promotion Association, and the Technology Commercialization Support Program (linked to technology transfer) by the Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute. In addition, MedInTech has demonstrated active progress toward commercialization by winning awards at programs such as KDB Startup 2020 and K-Global@China 2020, hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
View the original article
https://www.venturesquare.net/820789
https://www.donga.com/news/article/all/20201228/104666098/1
https://mirakle.mk.co.kr/view.php?year=2020&no=1325120
http://it.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2020/12/28/2020122801693.html
http://news.heraldcorp.com/view.php?ud=20201228000813
https://www.fnnews.com/news/202012281137350466
https://newsis.com/view/?id=NISX20201228_0001285302&cID=13001&pID=13000
http://www.bosa.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=2141046
http://www.mdtoday.co.kr/mdtoday/index.html?no=410296
http://www.startuptoday.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=41067
https://www.metroseoul.co.kr/article/20201228500018
https://www.ebn.co.kr/news/view/1465671
https://www.betanews.net/article/1247723
http://dongascience.donga.com/news/view/42722
https://www.edaily.co.kr/news/read?newsId=03509606626003112&mediaCodeNo=257&OutLnkChk=Y
https://www.fetv.co.kr/news/article.html?no=72702