Studiokiko said on the 6th that it secured a Pre-A investment for Neardoc, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based automatic medical record drafting service, from Smilegate Investment, Korea Investment Accelerator, and Strong Ventures.
Neardoc is an AI service that analyzes in real time the conversations between doctors and patients during consultations, automatically drafts medical records (SOAP chart) without separate input, and links them to electronic medical records (EMR). The amount of the Pre-A investment was not disclosed.
The so-called "clinical, specialized ambient AI scribe (Ambient AI Scribe)" is cited as a field that is growing rapidly in the global medical AI market. In the United States, 70% of doctors are using AI-based charting tools. The market size is expected to grow from $6 billion last year to $30 billion in 2033.
Neardoc applied its self-developed medical AI engine Xynar to reduce the possibility of hallucinations—generation of information that differs from facts—by general-purpose AI and to improve accuracy.
Without separate advertising, the service was adopted by more than 300 hospitals and clinics within two months of launch. At adopting medical institutions, the time required to draft medical records fell by 70%, and the number of patients seen increased by 1.5 times, according to statistics the company compiled.
Studiokiko plans to use the secured investment for hiring and upgrading the service. It will expand the service into a clinical decision support system (CDSS) and a "medical autonomous operating system (Medical OS)," and plans to pursue entry into non-English-speaking Asian markets next year.
Chief Executive Kim Se-hoon said, "We will build examination rooms where doctors can focus entirely on patients and establish a future medical infrastructure that enables top-tier care anywhere."
Jo Yu-jin, Head of Team at Smilegate Investment, noted, "Studiokiko has all the elements to lead the Asian market, including a proven founding team, its own AI engine, and early results of securing 300 hospitals without advertising."