CLOP, a Korean startup founded by Co-CEOs Sangjun Park and Hyunjun Kim, has recently received seed investment from Future Play and Shinhan Capital. CLOP provides services intending to prevent blindness in patients through AI-based eye disease management.
In South Korea, the estimated number of diabetic and pre-diabetic patients is over 12 million, with around 8 million individuals not receiving regular check-ups or proper follow-up care. CLOP focuses on the prevention and early detection of diabetic eye diseases.
CLOP plans to automate and streamline the process of requesting and forwarding additional fundus exams for patients with diabetes, using AI technology to analyze the collected data. The startup boasts a team of experts, including Sangjun Park, an ophthalmologist with 15 years of experience treating patients at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, and Hyunjun Kim, who has a background in AI medical device development and successful commercialization with VUNO Co. Ltd.
CEO Kwon Oh-hyung of Future Play, who participated in the investment, said, “CLOP’s AI-based medical service is a service that precisely meets the needs of doctors and patients, and we expect it to become an unrivaled platform in the field of ophthalmology. CLOP is the best team that can accurately identify important clinical field problems in digital healthcare and meet both the experience and capabilities to completely solve these problems within the healthcare/medical field.”
Sangjun Park, the representative of CLOP, emphasized the firsthand experience he gained as an ophthalmologist, treating patients and witnessing their real problems. He sees CLOP’s development of products and services as an opportunity to address these challenges directly.