Korean medical AI companies posted significantly improved earnings last year, with industry observers predicting more firms will turn profitable this year as AI adoption accelerates.
According to the medical AI industry on the 16th, Lunit, Korea's largest medical AI company, reported consolidated revenue of 83.1 billion won last year, surging 53% from 54.2 billion won the previous year. The figure marked an all-time high.
Lunit's revenue has grown 12.6-fold over four consecutive years since recording 6.6 billion won in 2021. Vuno also set a new record with revenue of 34.8 billion won last year, up 34.4% from the previous year.
3billion, an AI-based rare disease diagnosis company, saw revenue jump 103% to 11.7 billion won last year. Noul, which specializes in AI-based blood and cancer diagnostics, posted revenue of 5.12 billion won, surging 319% year-on-year.
The revenue growth among medical AI companies is attributed to sharply rising global demand for AI medical devices.
Notably, some companies are achieving operating profits alongside revenue growth.
Seers Technology, a wearable AI diagnostic monitoring company, turned profitable for the first time last year, posting operating profit of 16.33 billion won. Seers Technology is the first publicly listed medical AI company in Korea to achieve annual profitability.
Expectations are growing that more medical AI companies will turn profitable this year, driven by rapidly expanding global demand for AI medical devices and advancing technological capabilities of Korean firms.
"Revenue growth and cost reduction trends among medical AI companies will become more pronounced this year," a medical AI industry official said. "Companies turning profitable like Seers Technology will emerge one after another, establishing a full-fledged medical AI industry ecosystem."