“I failed twice but made it to the finals on my third attempt. Persistence really pays off.”— Kyu-seok Cho, CEO of Toonimotion

“Our country has faced challenges recently. Running a startup with zero revenue is tough, but I can promote our company without worry because of the great environment we have here.”— Tae-jin Ahn, CEO of Foretell My Health

“I wish health and success for all startup founders and employees.”— Hyung-jin Kim, CEO of Poscore

These heartfelt statements were the acceptance speeches of the top three teams honored at this year’s COMEUP Stars program. COMEUP Stars is the flagship program of COMEUP 2024, Korea’s largest startup festival, identifying innovative startups with market potential, innovation, growth prospects, and global scalability. This year, 1,208 startups applied; 40 teams advanced through preliminary rounds, 10 teams reached the final pitching stage, and the top three teams — Toonimotion, Poscore, and Foretell My Health — were crowned the “Best COMEUP Stars.”

The Top 10 Finalists

What made these 10 teams stand out among 1,208 competitors? Their ideas, technologies, and business models were judged on-site by Ho-chan Lee, CEO of ACVC Partners, Jung-hee Ryu, Co-CEO of FuturePlay, and Kwang-rok Kim, Co-CEO of Primer Sazze. Below is an overview of the final 10 teams’ innovations and the judges' questions during their presentations.

Final 10 Teams: MoveAWheeL, ZETIC.ai, Carbon Energy, Cubig, Toonimotion, Tublet Korea, Foretell My Health, NSS Water, TechEagle, Poscore

Toonimotion

“Only 1.9% of webtoons have been adapted into animations.”

This implies that the remaining 98.1% of webtoons have untapped potential for adaptation. However, creating animations from webtoons traditionally requires significant time and money. Toonimotion simplifies this process by using original webtoon artwork directly, reducing costs dramatically. By addressing this need, Toonimotion was named one of the top three innovative startups of COMEUP Stars 2024.

Toonimotion identifies webtoons yet to be animated, transforms them into animations, and supplies them to OTT platforms. This approach meets the demand for animation among creators, readers, and platforms while tackling the prohibitive costs and time constraints of traditional production. Their AI technology addresses the issue of image quality degradation during adaptation, enabling an 80% reduction in the production process and achieving animation creation up to eight times faster than conventional methods.

CEO Kyu-seok Cho explained, “We produce short-form animation series, each under four minutes long, with 50–70 episodes, and supply them to OTT platforms. Over the past two years, we’ve launched several projects on domestic platforms. Recently, we upgraded our technology to colorize and animate Japanese manga, positioning us to expand into Japan next year.”

When asked about potential price competition from countries with lower labor costs, CEO Cho emphasized, “Our core strength lies in precise direction and movement in animations, achieved through proprietary technology unmatched in Southeast Asia at this quality and price.”

Poscore

Poscore transforms low-value steel byproducts into high-performance magnetic powder and cores, essential for electric vehicle motors. With the rise in EV demand, raw material shortages for motor production are expected, and Poscore aims to address this gap.

When asked whether the use of steel byproducts might compromise performance, CEO Hyung-jin Kim clarified, “Our product demonstrates a 20% efficiency improvement over competitors. We’re currently validating our technology across various applications to solidify its competitiveness.” Additionally, the company highlighted its eco-friendly approach as a significant advantage.

Foretell My Health

“No one wants cancer, but if it happens, early detection is critical.”

Foretell My Health uses platelets for cancer detection. According to CEO Tae-jin Ahn, “Platelet counts increase significantly during cancer progression, and this trend is consistent across data from 10 million patients.” Platelets circulate through the body rapidly, passing near cancer sites. By analyzing genetic information within platelets, the company developed Magnolia PCR, software that provides ovarian cancer risk assessments. Clinical trials are underway in collaboration with the National Cancer Center and Seoul National University Hospital, with plans to expand to other women’s cancers.

When asked whether the technology was specific to certain cancer types, CEO Ahn explained, “Different RNA biomarkers unique to each cancer type allow our method to adapt across cancers. Platelet-based diagnostics work particularly well for cancers with high angiogenesis.”

MoveAWheeL

“Navigation systems warn of areas prone to freezing but don’t provide real-time updates on icy roads.”

MoveAWheeL’s EG-Way platform uses ultrasonic AIoT sensors to deliver real-time road condition updates, including black ice and wet surfaces, with 95% accuracy. Traditional sensors like cameras or radar fail to detect transparent surfaces like ice. EG-Way overcomes this limitation by analyzing acoustic reflections from road surfaces, enabling the classification of 20+ conditions.

CEO Min-hyun Kim stated, “Most of our revenue comes from installing sensors on roads, with some from data sales.”

ZETIC.ai

“We aim to revolutionize the AI market with the world’s fastest on-device AI software for universal use.”

As Generative AI gains traction, the rising costs of GPU cloud servers are a major concern. On-device AI offers an alternative, but implementation is challenging. ZETIC.ai addresses this with its all-in-one on-device AI solution, ZETIC.MLange. By optimizing AI models for diverse device NPUs, the platform allows real-time processing directly on smartphones and other devices.

CEO Yeon-seok Kim highlighted, “Our solution supports nearly all major platforms, including Android, iOS, and Linux. During COMEUP, we secured a customer and improved their software speed by over 300%.”

When asked about their universal approach potentially hindering growth, CEO Kim responded, “Providing bespoke solutions limits scalability. By collaborating with software companies, we ensure widespread adoption.”

Carbon Energy

"We capture CO2 from the air through chemical reactions, addressing environmental challenges."

Can companies completely control carbon dioxide emissions? It’s a tough goal. So, wouldn’t directly capturing CO2 from the air be a more effective solution? While many companies share this vision, Carbon Energy stands out with its unique method of capturing carbon.

Instead of using electricity to capture CO2, Carbon Energy employs a chemical reaction between CO2 and metal, producing caustic soda as a byproduct. Additionally, the heat energy lost during the reaction is converted into electrical energy, making the process highly efficient. This groundbreaking technology offers a triple advantage: capturing CO2, producing caustic soda, and recycling energy.

But what can caustic soda be used for? When asked, CEO Si-young Na explained, "It can be used for cleaning, as a food additive, in glass production, and even in construction materials. This allows construction companies to achieve both carbon neutrality and profitability."

Cubig

"A new data paradigm has emerged. We aim to lead the next-generation data market."

Accurate data is crucial for advancing artificial intelligence. However, using unfiltered data can lead to risks like privacy violations or internal data leaks. Cubig offers a solution with its product Azoo, which filters sensitive or personal information and generates synthetic data for AI training.

CEO Min-chan Jung stated, "Data is vital in the AI era but heavily regulated due to sensitive information. Cubig creates ‘realistic fake data’ to address this issue, enabling safe AI training." This synthetic data provides all the benefits of real data without compromising privacy.

When asked if data-generation trends might encourage companies to create training data in-house, Jung responded, "Some companies approach us after failing to build their own solutions. Generating synthetic data and amplifying datasets isn’t an easy task for just any company."

Tublet Korea

Tublet Korea operates a remote tutoring platform connecting middle and high school students with university students. Many tutors hail from Ivy League schools, such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and UPenn. The platform matches students and tutors using accumulated learning data, and the sessions involve real-time screen sharing and note-taking via tablets. After each class, parents receive an evaluation of their child’s progress from the tutor.

The platform also leverages AI to optimize tutor-student matching and monitor performance. CEO Min-woo Ahn shared his vision: "The performance data from our tutors will help us move towards an era of AI-powered tutors in the future."

NSS Water

Why do semiconductor factories need ultrapure water? It’s not only used in the manufacturing process but also for purifying process gases and controlling cleanroom humidity and temperature. Even the smallest contamination can disrupt semiconductor production. Sweden-based NSS Water produces ultrapure water free of particles larger than 5 nanometers. Their technology also reduces water usage by up to 90%, significantly cutting costs for semiconductor factories.

CEO Bjorn Holmstrom explained, "Our patented process and equipment are unique, and we’ve already secured patents in Korea. We offer customized configurations to meet various customer needs and market demands."

TechEagle Innovations

TechEagle Innovations specializes in drones for logistics. They apply the "hub-and-spoke" distribution model, typically used for ground logistics, to air routes via drones. Using AI and 5G technologies, their drones can deliver goods up to 100 km away at speeds 25 times faster than ground transport.

CEO Vikram Singh Meena explained, "Drone logistics costs less than traditional ground transport. By using drones, capital expenditures and operational costs for infrastructure are significantly reduced, especially in areas requiring extensive infrastructure." The company has successfully delivered medical supplies via drones across several Indian states.