PurpleAI for Brain Disease Diagnosis Secures Pre-A Investment

Analyzes Brain Hemorrhage in Seconds: "98% Accuracy"
Investments from Murex, Big Basin, Mashup, and DHP
Deployed in 40 General Hospitals, Approved by US FDA
"Full-scale Entry into the Global Market"

PurpleAI, an AI platform company specializing in brain disease diagnosis, announced on the 19th that it has secured a Pre-A investment of 2.5 billion KRW. This investment round included participation from Murex Partners, Big Basin Capital, Mashup Ventures, and Digital Healthcare Partners (DHP).

PurpleAI is a startup jointly founded by the AI healthcare team of SK C&C and radiology professors from Seoul National University Hospital and Ajou University Hospital. It was spun off from SK C&C and established as a corporation in October last year.

Since 2019, while under SK C&C, the three institutions have collaborated on research and development to secure medical device solutions and approvals for brain hemorrhage AI, cerebral infarction AI, and cerebral aneurysm AI. These solutions have been applied in about 40 general hospitals nationwide, demonstrating clinical efficacy.

PurpleAI’s flagship solution, ‘Medical Insight Plus Brain Hemorrhage,’ analyzes brain CT images within seconds and notifies medical staff of the hemorrhage location and abnormalities with approximately 98% accuracy. Brain hemorrhage is a severe and emergency condition with a mortality rate of 35% to 52% within one month of onset and a golden time of only three hours.

PurpleAI’s solution detects even subtle hemorrhages that medical staff might easily miss, at the level of neuro-radiology specialists. Numerous clinical validation studies have confirmed its effectiveness in improving diagnostic accuracy and reducing treatment time in emergency rooms.

Based on these clinical studies, it was designated as an innovative medical technology in the integrated review by the Ministry of Health and Welfare last year and also obtained FDA product approval in the United States.

Senior Investment Officer Younghyun Ahn of Murex Partners, who led this round of investment, stated, “PurpleAI’s solution has been verified for AI accuracy and processing speed in numerous medical sites in Korea, and its global competitiveness was confirmed through FDA clinical trials.” He added, “The brain disease diagnosis field of PurpleAI has high demand from medical staff for AI solution adoption, and it is an area where insurance reimbursement is actively progressing through the FDA, which was a key factor in our investment decision.”

Based on this investment, PurpleAI plans to expand its competitive AI solutions and advance into the global market.

Byungjun Park, CEO of PurpleAI, said, “In addition to the current imaging diagnostic AI, we are developing a brain hemorrhage prognosis prediction AI model based on patient metadata, and we are preparing to expand indications to brain diseases adjacent to stroke.” He added, “In the global market, we are focusing on the North American market, where medical device product approval has been obtained, and are pursuing partnerships with PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) and cloud platform companies.”

Leading domestic AI imaging diagnostic companies include listed companies such as Lunit in the lung and breast diagnosis fields and VUNO in the brain disease field.