Bredis Healthcare, Tilda win June D.Day, Korea’s oldest startup pitch race

An early-stage startup by young entrepreneurs who developed a digital diagnostic tool for brain disease and an AI-powered business optimization program provider won South Korea’s oldest startup pitch competition D.Day this month, held jointly with the country’s largest startup fair NextRise on Friday.

Bredis Healthcare Inc., an ultra-fledgling startup founded in February 2023, was highly praised for its proprietary platform that can diagnose Alzheimer’s disease with a simple blood test, predict the prognosis of future health outcomes and help patients manage their brain condition.

Its digital ELISA technology is 10,000 times more sensitive than the currently available blood test technology, claimed the company. The biomarker analysis technology backed by its artificial intelligence-driven data analytics technology was patented in Korea last month and is waiting for patent registration approval overseas.

Bredis Healthcare in late May completed the seed investment from KAIST Venture Investment Holdings, the venture investment fund of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and an affiliate of Checkmate Capital Group LLC, according to the company.

Its biomarker technology is already used by leading university hospitals and research institutes in Korea, while it is seeking to get product approvals for in vitro diagnostic medical devices, the company said.  

Tilda Corp. is the other winner for its AI-powered business optimization solutions that aim to help companies, especially in the manufacturing sector, maximize profit and minimize costs and risks.

It uses exploratory data analysis (EDA) and deep learning-backed digital twin technologies to provide businesses with the most optimized strategy planning and execution solutions, the company said.

KOREA’S OLDEST STARTUP PITCH RACE AND FAIR

The June D.Day, which was the 109th session, was held on Friday jointly with NextRise 2023, Korea’s largest startup fair participated by about 450 startups and entrepreneurs to introduce their technologies from June 1 to 2, 2023.

D.Camp, the Korean startup accelerator backed by the Banks Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs, has hosted the D.Day startup pitch event every month since June 2013. More than 600 early-stage startups have participated in the competition. 

In addition to the winners, the remaining seven finalists at the June D.Day are also promised free office space at the D.Camp-operated startup centers, D.CAMP and FRONT1, for a year and each company receives up to 300 million won ($230,000) in investment, according to D.Camp.

June's remaining seven finalists were Novela Studio, MockingBird, Planfit, D.HIVE, L4BOX, Salaryfi and aftercompany.

Write to Sookyung Seo at skseo@hankyung.com

Jennifer Nicholson-Breen edited this article.