BREDIS Healthcare Selected as Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT) 'First Penguin' Company

BREDIS Healthcare (Co-CEOs Hyundoo Hwang and Jina Kim), a company specializing in early diagnosis solutions for dementia and Alzheimer's disease, announced that it has been selected for the "First Penguin" program, an innovative startup guarantee scheme operated by the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT). KODIT's First Penguin program identifies and supports startups with the creative ideas and technological capabilities to grow into future unicorns — unlisted companies valued at over KRW 1 trillion. It supports promising startups within seven years of founding that can demonstrate projected revenue, offering guarantees of up to KRW 3 billion along with a range of support programs to accelerate their growth. Hyerim Ha, Team Lead at d.camp — the startup foundation operated by the Korea Federation of Banks, which led BREDIS Healthcare's bridge investment round last August — said, "It is extremely rare for a bio/healthcare startup less than a year old to generate meaningful revenue, as BREDIS Healthcare has. We believe the company embodies the pioneering spirit of the First Penguin program and expect it to continue leading and setting an example within the industry ecosystem." With the support of the First Penguin guarantee, BREDIS Healthcare plans to further advance its blood biomarker analysis service, which it currently provides to more than 10 leading general hospitals in Korea and abroad, as well as institutions such as the National Institute of Health under the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Jisoo Lim, Manager at BREDIS Healthcare, described the company's current operations: "By precisely understanding each client's needs, we provide end-to-end customized services, which has led to consistently positive feedback and repeat business. We have also recently completed preparations to be designated as a GCLP (Good Clinical Laboratory Practice) institution under new standards aligned with global requirements, allowing us to stably expand our services into large-scale clinical trial analysis." CEO Jina Kim added, "We believe the key to a reliable analysis service lies in safe, systematic protocols, which is why we have built a Laboratory 4.0 infrastructure to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and reproducibility across every stage of analysis. We expect this First Penguin guarantee to help us achieve economies of scale and build a foundation for long-term growth." BREDIS Healthcare was also awarded the Korea Forest Service Commissioner's Award at the grand finals of "Challenge! K-Startup 2023" — Korea's largest and most prestigious startup competition, co-hosted by 11 government ministries including the Ministry of SMEs and Startups — in October, and won the Grand Prize at the finals of the "2023 Gyeonggi Startup Competition for Change and Opportunity."