AI startup OnePredict gears up for $25 mn funding round

South Korean AI solutions provider OnePredict is set to begin a 30 billion won ($25 million) funding round. 

The Seoul-based startup provides industrial AI solutions to different industries including utilities, energy, and manufacturing.

A person familiar with the development said OnePredict’s Series C round is expected to result in a total investment amount of between 20 billion won and 30 billion won. Two years ago, the company wrapped up its Series B funding with a 15 billion won investment. 

In the previous rounds, OnePredict secured funding from a number of household venture capital firms; namely, Stonebridge Ventures Inc., Atinum Investment, Samsung Venture Investment, and Premier Partners. It also secured funding from petroleum and refinery juggernaut S-Oil Corp. 

Industry insiders forecast its corporate value will skyrocket after the upcoming funding round is complete. 

OnePredict was founded by Yoon Byung-dong, a professor of mechanical engineering at Seoul National University. Launched in 2016, the startup's main product GuardiOne has been adopted by conglomerates and quasi-government entities alike. 

LG Electronics Inc., POSCO, Lotte Chemical Corp., Korea Western Power Co., and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power all use the AI solution that estimates an equipment's or facility’s likelihood of needing a repair and calculates the remaining product cycle based on big data and Internet of things (IoT).  

In 2020, the Ministry of Science and ICT selected OnePredict as one of its “future unicorn” companies. 

The industrial AI sector is widely regarded as having ample room for growth. Hit by the shrinking birth rate and the shortened work hours, companies are looking for innovative ways to keep production costs down. 

There has also been a growing interest in maintaining a higher level of safety for industrial facilities on the back of stricter regulations from Seoul. 

OnePredict is not the only industrial AI solutions firm that investors are keen on. 

In October 2019, Nasdaq-listed Cognex acquired South Korean startup Sualab for $195 million.

An industry insider told The Korea Economic Daily that OnePredict appears a strong candidate to become a unicorn in the near future. 

Write to Jongwoo Kim at jongwoo@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.