KAIST said on the 23rd that Point2 Technology, co-founded by Bae Hyun-min, a professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and head of the Startup Institute, and alumni, secured a Series B extension investment from NVIDIA's venture investment institutional sector NVentures.
With this investment, Point2 Technology closed a $76 million (about 100 billion won) Series B round. Series B funding is classified as the stage of investment that corporations at a certain stage of growth receive to expand their workforce and scale their markets.
As for the investment background, the company's "e-Tube" technology has been cited. Developed by KAIST researchers, it is a plastic waveguide–based data transmission technology that uses radio frequency (RF) signals.
This technology can extend transmission distance about 10 times farther than copper lines while reducing power consumption and expense to one-third each compared with optical fiber. KAIST said it can also cut data transmission latency, drawing attention for potential use in next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
KAIST said NVIDIA's participation in this investment came because the technology was evaluated as a necessary element in implementing future AI data center infrastructure.
Point2 Technology CEO Park Jin-ho said, "AI competitiveness is determined by data consolidation technology between semiconductors," adding, "Based on this investment, we will work with global partners to commercialize next-generation AI infrastructure."
KAIST Startup Institute head Bae Hyun-min said, "This is a case where source technology developed at KAIST led to investment by global corporations," and noted, "We will step up support for overseas expansion by technology-based startups."
Meanwhile, the KAIST Startup Institute plans to build a "global growth acceleration system" to support overseas expansion by on-campus startups. Based on a global investor network, it plans to provide linked support from proof of concept (PoC) to fundraising to back the growth of deep-tech startups.