South Korean AI Medical Imaging Firm Lunit Secures $26 Million Series C Funding Led by Shinhan Investment, with Participation from Legend Capital

Recently, VCBeat learned that South Korean medical AI company Lunit has completed a $26 million Series C financing round. The round was led by Shinhan Investment, with participation from Asian investors including InterVest, IMM Investment, Kakao Ventures, and Legend Holdings’ Joy Capital.

This round of funding will be used to accelerate the global sales of its software systems for chest and breast X-ray examinations—the Lunit INSIGHT suite. Additionally, the funds will support product development in oncology and pathology, specifically leveraging AI to digitize histopathological tissue data and predict the efficacy and safety of various cancer treatment regimens for individual patients.

Lunit, founded in 2013 and headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, leverages advanced artificial intelligence to process medical imaging data, assisting physicians in making precise clinical decisions regarding diagnosis and treatment. The founding team all hail from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Brandon Suh, the company’s CEO, is a board-certified family medicine physician at Seoul National University Hospital. With a multidisciplinary background encompassing biological sciences, public health (MPH), and an MBA, he has published more than 30 articles in prestigious international journals such as Hepatology and Annals of Oncology.

Lunit has raised a cumulative total of $50 million in funding, with investors including major venture capital firms, SoftBank Asia Venture Capital, and Silicon Valley-based Formation 8. Lunit is the only Korean company selected for CB Insights’ 2017 list of the “Top 100 AI Startups” globally and was ranked among the top five most socially impactful AI startups worldwide by NVIDIA. Most recently, in 2019, it was again recognized by CB Insights as the sole Korean company on its list of the “Top 150 Digital Health Companies” globally.

Lunit’s core technology is AI-driven visual perception. Precision Diagnostics differs from traditional Computer-Aided Detection (CAD), which relies heavily on radiologists’ guidance. By leveraging imaging biomarkers derived from large-scale medical image data and utilizing the feature learning capabilities of deep convolutional neural networks, the software system automatically identifies significant diagnostic features from massive datasets. Lunit’s technology is applied not only in radiology but also in pathology and therapeutics (Precision Therapeutics).

Leveraging deep learning AI technology, Lunit has developed the Lunit INSIGHT product series, which includes Lunit INSIGHT CXR for AI-based analysis of chest X-rays, Lunit INSIGHT MMG for AI-based analysis of mammography, and Lunit SCOPE for identification and quantitative analysis of histopathological slides.

Lunit INSIGHT CXR leverages AI technology to gain in-depth insights into pathological findings reflected in chest X-rays and develops advanced computational models for lesion detection. Through continuous training via deep learning, the model enhances the overall diagnostic performance of chest X-ray interpretation. It aids in the detection and differentiation of abnormal findings on chest radiographs, such as pneumonia, emphysema, diffuse lung diseases, tuberculosis, lung cancer, and pulmonary metastases, demonstrating high diagnostic accuracy. Lunit INSIGHT CXR assists general practitioners and radiologists in interpreting chest X-rays more effectively and accurately. The product received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) of South Korea in 2018 and obtained CE marking for the European market in 2019. FDA approval in the United States is currently underway.

Lunit INSIGHT MMG introduces advanced AI technology to perform detailed analysis of mammography images and has developed an improved product for detecting malignant features, significantly reducing false-negative and false-positive misdiagnoses. The purpose of applying AI technology to mammography is to improve the detection rate of breast cancer and reduce the misdiagnosis rate by: 1) detecting and locating lesions; 2) providing recommendations for patients’ Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) assessments; and 3) predicting the probability of lesions being malignant. In 2019, Lunit INSIGHT MMG received approval from the MFDS, with CE marking in Europe imminent. FDA approval in the United States is currently underway.

Lunit SCOPE is an AI-powered analysis tool for digital pathology slides that performs cancer tissue identification and quantitative analysis based on histopathological images. Its capabilities include analyzing tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) density within the tumor stroma, assessing stromal TIL density, evaluating the tumor-stroma ratio (TSR), and classifying tissues according to immunophenotypes. Lunit is currently engaged in research collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies in Europe and the United States.

Brandon Suh, CEO of Lunit, stated, “We have achieved tangible and meaningful results in our AI-driven fight against cancer. We have presented our latest research findings at global conferences such as the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), and published related papers in prestigious journals including Radiology and JAMA Network Open. Throughout this process, we have consistently gathered customer requirements, incorporated this feedback into our products, upgraded our software, and optimized clinical workflows.”

Currently, Lunit’s products are being used and tested in clinical settings across Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, China, Thailand, Taiwan (China), and South Korea. Additionally, Lunit has made its platform freely accessible online at insight.lunit.io, having analyzed over 2.5 million radiological images to date and serving users in more than 80 countries worldwide. The company is engaged in various large-scale research collaborations with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and five major hospitals in South Korea. Brandon Suh, CEO of Lunit, stated, “We aim to expand our business scope and develop more advanced AI solutions that surpass human capabilities, thereby enhancing the predictability of medical practice.”

Lunit was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Formerly known as Cldi, the company was officially renamed Lunit (Learning Unit) in October 2015. Lunit’s deep learning technology has surpassed tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Tencent in several prestigious international competitions, achieving remarkable results: 5th place in ImageNet (2015), 1st place in TUPAC (2016), and 1st place in Camelyon (2017). Lunit is the only South Korean company selected for CB Insights’ “Top 100 AI Startups” list in 2017 and has also been ranked among the top five globally impactful AI startups by NVIDIA. Most recently, in 2019, it was again recognized by CB Insights as the sole South Korean company included in its “Digital Health 150” list.