'Solving problems created by tech with tech: Bluepoint identifies 12 solutions

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"We need to think not only about the positive effects technology brings, but also about the problems it leaves behind, and make efforts to solve them again with technology. The innovations created by science and technology now come with a responsibility of the era."

Lee Yong-gwan, CEO of Bluepoint Partners, defined "technological optimism" in the AI era this way at the "13th Bluepoint Demo Day" held on the 15th at the Sofitel Ambassador Seoul in Songpa-gu, Seoul. This is a perspective that emphasizes paying more attention to the direction and use of technology rather than engaging in wasteful debates about definitively predicting the future that technology will bring.

Based on this philosophy, 12 deep tech startups presented technical solutions to difficult problems in industry and society across various fields, from cybersecurity to energy, resource circulation, food, and space, took the stage at the demo day. All are companies invested in by Bluepoint within the last three years, presenting their technological capabilities, business models, and growth strategies before approximately 300 attendees including venture capital (VC) and other professional investment institutional investors and startup industry officials.

As large-scale hacking incidents in the financial sector have occurred consecutively and cyber threats utilizing AI have intensified, cybersecurity companies Oasis Security and Aim Intelligence drew attention at this demo day.

Kim Geun-yong, CEO of Oasis Security, stated, "Cybersecurity has a structure where the defense side incurs more costs than the attacking side," adding, "Recently, as AI automates cyberattacks, an environment more favorable to attackers is being created." He then emphasized the importance of proactive security in responding to such threats.

Oasis Security developed proactive 'security technology that detects threats from the initial stage when hackers prepare attacks, moving beyond existing security methods that respond after a cyberattack occurs. The company was founded by personnel who had been researching hacker tracking technology at the National Institute for Defense Technologies. It uses AI to track hacker servers worldwide and analyze attacker activities. The company has currently secured customers including government, military, law enforcement authorities, and overseas intelligence institutional investors, and plans to expand its business to the private security market based on technological capabilities verified in the public sector.

Aim Intelligence develops a security platform that verifies and controls the safety of AI models. Its main solutions include "Aim Red," which automatically diagnoses vulnerabilities such as hallucinations, bias, and personal information leakage in generative AI; "Aim Guard," which monitors real-time input and output information; and "Aim Supervisor," which oversees the decision-making process of AI agents.

Yoo Sang-yoon, CEO of Aim Intelligence, emphasized, "AI is now evolving beyond answering questions to a stage where it directly acts and executes," adding, "As AI agents are introduced within companies as well, securing not only the performance of AI but also its safety and controllability has become important."

In the space field, Cosmobi, which develops electric propulsion systems for small satellite constellations, took the stage. The company's strategy is to target the constellation market with "Honeybee," a low-power electric thruster that adjusts satellite orbits and positions. In less than three years since its founding, it accumulated a track record of technological verification in space environments, known as "Space Heritage," by equipping the 4th Nuri rocket launch with a Hall thruster and the 5th launch with a hollow cathode module, a core component.

Companies aiming to increase productivity in manufacturing and research sites using AI and robotics were also introduced. Reprise automates clothing sewing processes using collaborative robots and AI, while Astral Q develops a cloud lab where robots perform experiments and measurements when AI predicts new material synthesis conditions. Diden Robotics is promoting the automation of high-risk, high-intensity work in industrial sites such as shipyards with physical AI-based robots.

Mega Plan, which is tackling food issues, introduced technology that induces mackerel to spawn regardless of season by controlling light and water temperature. Yoo Cheol-won, CEO of Mega Plan, stated, "We completed the Jeonju-based aquaculture technology for mackerel as the second in the world after Japan, and secured the year-round spawning technology as a world first," adding, "We have been supplying farmed mackerel to E-Mart since May this year, and also signed an export contract with Mitsubishi of Japan."

Startups leading innovative technologies in the energy and resource circulation fields also took the stage. Enplus presented a solution that lowers clean hydrogen production costs using high-temperature water electrolysis technology, while Lipio showcased technology that decomposes waste polyurethane under low-temperature and atmospheric pressure conditions to convert it into recycled raw materials. Deep tech startups targeting consumer markets such as K-beauty and K-fashion also drew attention. Makemake introduced SOOO, a beauty brand solving skin and hair problems caused by hard water, while Kindof presented a clothing manufacturing solution utilizing data and AI.

In particular, this demo day is significant as it is the first event held after Bluepoint was selected by the government as a "Comprehensive Technology Commercialization Specialist Company." This project, supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT with the Korea Agency for Small and Medium Technology Commercialization participating as a professional institutional investor, focuses on discovering public technology from universities and government-funded research institutional investors and supporting the entire commercialization process from startup and incubation to follow-on investment.

In fact, many of the participating companies in this event are startups based on technologies from universities and government-funded research institutional investors, or companies that have received technology transfer. Representative examples include Diden Robotics, founded by KAIST Hubo Lab alumni; Cosmobi, founded by KAIST lab alumni; Lipio, which received technology transfer from the Korea Institute of Chemical Technology; Enplus, founded based on Pohang Industry Science Research Institute technology; and Oasis Security, founded by National Institute for Defense Technologies alumni.

Lee Yong-gwan (CEO) stated in his keynote speech that day, "Many excellent technologies have accumulated in our country's universities and government-funded research institutional investors, but there are still many inefficiencies in the process of turning them into actual commercialization," adding, "Now we must shift the commercialization method from technology-centric to market-centric, and from simple technology transfer to startup and investment."

Meanwhile, more than half of the 12th companies that participated in last year's demo day succeeded in securing follow-on investment. Bluepoint, a deep tech specialist accelerator established in 2014, has consistently invested in startups from seed to Series A stages, with cumulative invested companies surpassing 400 as of this month.

[MoneyToday startup media platform Unicorn Factory]