Medical AI: Adding new value to electrocardiogram

A bold and grand dream

Before I met Medical AI, I had some skepticism about electrocardiogram-based AI diagnostic solutions. This is because domestic and foreign companies, including Anumana, have attempted to commercialize similar technologies, but have not achieved any significant results.

However, as soon as I met CEO Kwon Jun-myung, this sense of skepticism turned into anticipation. When you work in startup investment, you often say that you are ultimately investing in 'people', and I felt that CEO Kwon Jun-myung was a representative example of someone I "want to invest in . "

Medical AI CEO Kwon Jun-myeong (Image: Medipo News)

“If 1 trillion won doesn’t work, you can create a 10 trillion won or 50 trillion won company.”

When I first met CEO Kwon Jun-myeong, he explained his business in a soft and calm tone, but I could immediately tell that there was tremendous conviction and confidence underneath. He was a typical person who was soft on the outside but strong on the inside.

Usually, when founders talk about their goals, they feel awkward about presenting big goals or they often use somewhat exaggerated expressions. However, CEO Kwon Jun-myeong was different. When we pointed out that the company is old and has a complex share structure, even if it becomes a unicorn in the future, it may not be able to guarantee satisfactory results for the founding team members, his expression did not change at all and he immediately replied, "Really? If it doesn't work out at 1 trillion, then you can make a company worth 10 trillion or 50 trillion." I could feel his well-founded confidence from this.

What makes his story so powerful is that he doesn’t just present the direction of the company, but also implements specific goals and action plans . CEO Kwon Jun-myeong boldly and confidently conveyed his vision of making 5% of the world’s population able to experience Medical AI’s diagnostic solutions by the end of next year .

Medical AI's Vision (Source: Medical AI)

Looking at the life trajectory of CEO Kwon Jun-myeong, even though he had a stable job as a specialist, he did not stay in reality, and he had a strong innovative nature of constantly trying to change the world . He took on many challenges in his life with the mindset of “If I’m curious, I’ll try it myself” and “If there’s no one to do it for me, I’ll study and make it myself.” He was a person born with an entrepreneurial spirit.

After finishing my first meeting with CEO Kwon Jun-myeong, I went straight to see our CEO and talked to him.

"This guy is crazy"

His bold and grandiose voice and his practical thinking that he demonstrates through action without hesitation are the factors that make me look forward to the future of CEO Kwon Jun-myeong .

The problem that medical AI is trying to solve: What is an electrocardiogram (ECG) test?

We get an electrocardiogram (ECG) test every year at a hospital or health center. The test results come out in the form of 12 graphs that are not easily readable. This is called an electrocardiogram (ECG), and everyone has probably seen it at least once.

An electrocardiogram test that measures the electrical signals emitted by the heart in 12 directions through electrodes attached to the body and records them in a graph (Image: Hidoc)

However, even though many people are getting ECG tests, it is rare to hear of cases where heart disease is diagnosed early and treated right away through this test . This is because ECG data contains a lot of noise, and the changes due to the disease are subtle, so it is difficult for a cardiologist to easily detect abnormal signs even if observed with the naked eye.

So, ECG examinations have remained at a somewhat formal level. Many people around the world suffer from heart disease, but it is difficult to detect and treat the disease early through ECG examinations. Most patients visit the hospital only when their chest is tight and they are about to collapse, and even when they visit the hospital because they are sick, there are many cases where they are not diagnosed because the symptoms do not reappear.

Technology that adds meaning to electrocardiogram

Medical AI is one of the first movers among companies that are solving the difficulties of early diagnosis of heart disease . In 2019, CEO Kwon Jun-myeong published a paper on early diagnosis of heart disease using AI technology and ECG data. This was a faster research result than Mayo Clinic, the largest hospital network in the United States, and Mayo Clinic published similar research results a month after this paper was published. Since then, Medical AI has continued to conduct research and now has an AI model that can predict a wider range of diseases than Mayo Clinic, and the number of related papers is also among the top in the world .

Source: Newsis

A business should aim to provide clear value to customers. Medical AI technology presents clear customer value in that it makes the electrocardiogram test that we all received in the past but had little meaning meaningful . What is more noteworthy is that this technology does not require a change in user behavior. Since it utilizes the data from the test we originally received, it is close to an add-on solution that does not incur additional costs for patients or doctors, and this can be said to be a very advantageous factor for market penetration.

We have also developed a generative AI model that converts low-resolution ECG data measured on smartwatches into high-resolution data. Using this technology, we will be able to receive real-time notifications about heart abnormalities just by wearing a smartwatch. Medical AI’s technology brings ECG closer to our lives without requiring additional actions, and it has an attractive value proposition that it can improve the quality of human life.

In the future, there will come a time when you can track your heart rate in real time just by wearing a smartwatch.

Faster execution than technology, and a business mind

Technology entrepreneurs are usually very confident and immersed in technology development, but they are often passive when it comes to GTM activities, including sales. The problem is that this lack of business mindset often becomes an obstacle to the success of the company.

In the medical AI field, it is common to receive one license over 5 to 10 years, but Medical AI has passed two new medical technology recognitions in just 4 years since its establishment, which can be said to be a result of Medical AI's market-centered thinking. What Medical AI focused on was not simply developing excellent technology, but developing as much technology as the market needed as quickly as possible .

Source: Medical AI, Medigate News, Farm News

In terms of market penetration, CEO Kwon Jun-myeong is a typical salesman who works hard . He spends a significant portion of his working hours at customer sites, and he is fully engaged in direct sales to hospitals and clinics, as well as collaboration on the launch of checkup center packages and agency connections. As a result, the results are remarkable, such as completing the installation of solutions in over 100 checkup centers in Korea in a short period of time. In addition, the company has recently been flexibly combining and executing various GTM strategies, such as attracting strategic partners from the pharmaceutical industry, which shows the company's aggressive business mindset. The company's accurate understanding of what barriers a product must overcome to be used in the market and its ability to eliminate them are points that are very reliable as a VC .

The company also says that global business is the most important task for the company's future. It is not just words, but under the vision of solving the problem of heart disease for all people around the world, the company quickly established a branch in Washington DC, directly dispatched a global CMO, and promoted direct transactions with global partners such as GE and Alivecor. This shows that the company is taking proactive and practical actions for global expansion, which makes us even more excited about the company's future value .

Infrastructure capabilities that connect technology and organizations

Finally, the fact that such technically excellent products could quickly reach the market is due not only to Medical AI's excellent mindset and implementation capabilities, but also to its strong infrastructure operation capabilities . Unlike typical medical AI companies, Medical AI operates its own GPU farm. It has built an on-premises supercomputing infrastructure consisting of more than 100 A100s, and has also developed and is operating an in-house MLOps platform that makes it easy to conduct AI model experiments and implement applications on top of this infrastructure.

We have defined not only market customers but also internal customers and have performed productization for them. Thanks to this, the entire cycle from new model experimentation, verification, and distribution is moving quickly. In addition, we have many computing infrastructure experts within the organization who can directly design and operate this system, which is a big difference from other medical AI companies.

People, technology, execution, and organizational infrastructure. Medical AI is the startup that has the most balanced set of these four elements among all the teams I have ever met . I think technology is a tool to change life, and the market is the stage to judge whether that technology is really used. Medical AI is the team that connects these two worlds better than anyone else. It is a company that is amazing now, but I am even more excited about the future. I am confident that this team will be at the center of the changes that will be made so that countless people around the world can escape the pain of heart disease.

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