BOSTON: HoneyNaps, an industry-leading South Korean company in artificial intelligence (AI) sleep data analysis, has closed its series B round of funding, securing $11.6 million.
The series B funding is a successful achievement, nearly three times the $3.9 million raised through series A funding back in 2021. With the listing contract signed with Korea Investment & Securities Co., Ltd. in March 2024, the company is poised to become the no. 1 listed company in Sleep Technology (Sleep-Tech) that features an AI bio signal model.
In this round, many institutions participated as new investors such as Korea Industrial Bank, Hi investment Partners and QUAD Investment Management. Despite a freeze-up in venture investment, this series B round achieved an early close due to overbooking, driven by overwhelming participation from prestigious domestic and foreign investors.
Founded in July 2015, HoneyNaps has amassed about $16.2 million to date, starting with seed funding for about $0.7 million, secured through success-share-funding from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in 2019. This funding marks the largest scale among recent financings secured by domestic Sleep-Tech companies.
HoneyNaps obtained FDA approval for its AI sleep diagnosis software SOMNUM in 2023, establishing partnerships with major university hospitals across the U.S. through its Boston-based American branch. The domestic sales growth coupled with the perceived potential for export to the American medical market are cited as key drivers to the company’s success in funding.
SOMNUM is an algorithm that analyzes bio signal data during sleep and provides disease diagnoses under five minutes using its self-developed AI model. This AI diagnosis software is integrable into any medical and healthcare market using real-time large-scale bio signal.
In particular, the company invested nine years to develop X.AI (eXplainable AI), a crucial component for the medical field. They have also registered 16 original patents and published SCIE-Level thesis, enhancing the technical value provided to its clients.
HoneyNaps’ CFO states, “This successful funding amidst a challenging investment climate has validated our position as Korea’s leading Sleep-Tech company”, adding, “These resources will enable us to achieve results in the domestic and American medical market and earn recognition. Beyond the SOMNUM’s current use in sleep disease diagnosis, we plan to further advance the AI to expand its application to other critical areas such as cardiovascular disease, dementia, and Parkinson’s disease”.