Naver's 100th Startup Investment is Sleep Tech 'PranaQ'

by Choi Yuri

Published 22 Dec.2022 08:58(KST)

Naver's 100th Startup Investment is Sleep Tech 'PranaQ'

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Choi] Naver's startup nurturing organization D2SF announced on the 22nd that it has invested in its 100th technology startup seven years after its launch. The investment target is the sleep tech startup "PranaQ".

PranaQ is developing a healthcare solution that can measure sleep quality with high accuracy. It utilizes photoplethysmography (PPG) technology, which measures blood flow by shining light-emitting diode (LED) light on the skin. Its strength lies in precisely measuring biometric signals related to oxygen saturation, heart rate variability, and respiration, which were difficult to analyze with existing technologies. It also has an artificial intelligence (AI) model that corrects signal distortion by analyzing 25,000 hours of sleep data.

PranaQ plans to produce a wearable device that specifies sleep quality. Currently, PranaQ is advancing its technology aiming for medical device certification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2023. The main targets are hospitals, healthcare companies, and telemedicine companies in the North American market.

The founding team of PranaQ consists of diverse global members. They have rich experience in signal processing technology and AI development from prestigious global universities and companies such as Princeton, Georgia Tech, and Google. The seed investment raised this time amounts to $3 million (approximately 3.9 billion KRW), led by DSC Investment.

Yang Sang-hwan, leader of Naver D2SF, explained the investment rationale, saying, "The global sleep tech market is expected to grow to $32 billion in 2026, three times the size of 2019. PranaQ is a team with outstanding technological competitiveness and is expected to grow into a representative company in sleep tech."

Meanwhile, Naver D2SF continues to invest in early-stage technology startups. This year, it has executed a total of 26 investments worth about 16.7 billion KRW. This is similar to the previous year’s level, which saw 31 investments totaling about 17.7 billion KRW. Next year, it plans to actively invest in early-stage technology startups and pursue synergy with Naver.