Reported by asiatechdaily / May 25, 2024.
HoneyNaps, a South Korean company specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) sleep data analysis, announced on the 7th that it has successfully closed its Series B funding round, securing $11.6 million. The investment brings HoneyNaps’ total funding to $16.2 million.
The funds will be used to develop AI solutions and expand their market presence in the sleep analysis industry.
The Series B funding is crucial for HoneyNaps after nearly tripling the $3.9 million raised in their Series A round in 2021. With a listing contract signed with Korea Investment & Securities Co., Ltd. in March 2024, HoneyNaps is expected to become the top-listed company in Sleep Technology (Sleep-Tech), featuring an AI bio signal model.
This round saw participation from new investors, including Korea Industrial Bank, Hi Investment Partners, and QUAD Investment Management. Despite a challenging venture investment climate, the round closed early due to overbooking, driven by strong interest from both domestic and international investors. The company plans to utilize the funds to expand its market reach and enhance its flagship product, SOMNUM.
Founded in July 2015, HoneyNaps has accumulated approximately $16.2 million in funding to date, starting with $0.7 million in seed funding from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in 2019. This Series B round is the largest scale among recent financings secured by domestic Sleep-Tech companies, underscoring HoneyNaps’ leadership in the industry.
HoneyNaps’ flagship product, SOMNUM, received FDA approval in 2023 and has since established partnerships with major university hospitals across the U.S. through its Boston-based American branch. SOMNUM utilizes a proprietary AI model to provide rapid sleep disorder diagnoses within five minutes, leveraging real-time large-scale biosignals. The company’s domestic sales growth and potential for export to the American medical market have been pivotal in driving its recent funding success.
Using its proprietary AI model, SOMNUM is an advanced algorithm that analyzes biosignal data during sleep to provide disease diagnoses in under five minutes. This AI diagnosis software can be integrated into various medical and healthcare markets, leveraging real-time large-scale bio signals for accurate results.
Over nine years, the company developed X.AI (eXplainable AI), a crucial component for medical applications, and registered 16 original patents while publishing SCIE-level theses, thereby enhancing the technical value offered to clients.
HoneyNaps’ CFO stated, “This successful funding amidst a challenging investment climate has validated our position as Korea‘s leading Sleep-Tech company.” The CFO also emphasized that the new resources will enable the company to achieve significant results in both the domestic and American medical markets. In addition to its current use in sleep disorder diagnosis, HoneyNaps plans to advance AI technology to address other critical areas such as cardiovascular disease, dementia, and Parkinson’s disease.
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