Innovide, which operates the next-generation dental lab service "Dentlink," has raised 12 billion won in a Series B funding round, according to venture investment information platform The VC on Thursday. The round was led by SBVA, with IBK Industrial Bank joining as a new investor. Existing investors Wonik Investment Partners, Translink Investment, and Murex Partners also participated.
Dentlink, developed by Innovide, is a platform that digitizes the process of manufacturing dental prosthetics. It leverages Korea's dental lab infrastructure to supply prosthetics to overseas dental clinics in the United States, Australia, and other countries. The platform's key feature is digitally resolving the problems that arise in cross-border dental lab services, such as language, time differences, logistics, and quality control.
Dental prosthetics typically require custom manufacturing for each patient, making quality control and standardization of the manufacturing process difficult. Dentlink digitized the entire process—from data acquisition, communication between dentists and lab technicians, manufacturing, quality control (QC), to logistics—lowering the prosthetics remanufacturing rate from around 10% to around 1%. According to the company, the number of client clinics and revenue increased more than 2.5-fold from a year earlier.
Innovide plans to use the investment to expand its business in the US and Australian markets and to establish an automated dental prosthetics manufacturing center. The company also plans to pursue research and development (R&D) and talent acquisition for artificial intelligence (AI)-based dental prosthetics services and product development.
JJ&Companies Raises 3 Billion Won
JJ&Companies recently succeeded in raising 3 billion won in a Series A funding round. The company is a startup founded by marine industry experts, including former employees of a Norwegian state-owned offshore plant engineering firm. It holds a technology portfolio spanning the marine industry, including offshore plant integrated control systems, LNG fuel gas supply system (FGSS) control technology, a vision AI-based automatic fire detection system (SICIM), and an underwater biological biometric information analysis system (VIITS).
Its flagship product, "J-IAS," is an integrated control system for gas fuel supply for eco-friendly vessels, equipped to handle the entire process from design and manufacturing to delivery and maintenance. It has secured supply contracts and delivery records for more than 23 vessels for global shipowners in Korea, Greece, Singapore, and elsewhere. It has also obtained major international classification society standards such as KR, DNV, and ABS, as well as the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) cybersecurity (E27) certification.
Based on this investment, the company plans to establish a local subsidiary in Seattle, Washington, in the US and enter the American shipbuilding industry market. Beyond LNG fuel supply control systems, it plans to expand its business into renewable LNG-based fuel supply and the production and supply of sustainable marine fuel (SMF).
Quantum Photodetector Firm Secures Investment
QUAD, a company specializing in superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPD), has completed a 2.1 billion won pre-Series A funding round. The round included participation from Bluepoint Partners, Dongkuk Investment, Seoul National University Holdings, and the Youth Innovation Startup Institute.
QUAD is Korea's first company specializing in quantum photodetectors, with SNSPD cited as its core technology. SNSPD offers fast reaction speeds and extremely low noise, and is used in semiconductor process defect inspection, medical imaging, autonomous driving lidar, and defense surveillance. It is particularly drawing attention as a core component for quantum computers and quantum communications.
Key personnel, including CEO Oh Byung-doo, have research, process, equipment, and business experience at IBM, LG, the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, and the National NanoFab Center. QUAD is carrying out a quantum-sector project under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' "Super Gap Startup 1000+ Project." In addition, it is jointly pursuing everything from device process optimization to mass production process development with the Korea Advanced Nano Fab Center (KANC).
