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HITS

Category: AI in Healthcare

An integrated AI-driven drug discovery SaaS platform that digitalizes the entire pharmaceutical R&D process through high-performance virtual simulations and predictive modeling. HITS was founded in 2020. The company is led by Woo-yeon Kim. Based in Seoul, South Korea. Team size: 30-50. Total funding raised: $8.6M. Latest round: Series A Bridge ($3.1M, Jan 2025). Key investors include ["Korea Investment Partners","Stick Ventures","Kium Investment","Capstone Partners","Schmidt"].

Founded
2020
Headquarters
Seoul, South Korea
Team size
30-50
Total funding
$8.6M

Value proposition

Reduces drug discovery R&D timelines by up to 90% and increases the success rate (hit rate) of finding valid substances by 9x through a user-friendly, cloud-based virtual laboratory environment.

Products and solutions

["HyperLab: The core all-in-one SaaS platform for drug design","Hyper Screening X: Ultra-large scale virtual screening capable of searching 11 trillion molecules within 48 hours","Hyper Binding Co-folding: AlphaFold3-based structural prediction and protein-ligand binding affinity analysis","Hyper Design: Generative AI module for creating novel molecular structures using fragment-based deep learning","Hyper ADME/T: Predictive modeling for drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity","NOVA: An LLM-integrated AI research assistant for intuitive data querying and experiment management"]

Unique value

Distinguished by being the first in Korea to productize a drug discovery SaaS, HITS combines physics-based computational chemistry with proprietary deep learning to simulate experiments at a scale of 11 trillion molecules, which is among the highest in the world.

Target customer

Early to mid-stage biotech startups, large-scale pharmaceutical corporations, and academic life science research institutes.

Industries served

["Pharmaceuticals","Biotechnology","Life Sciences","Healthcare IT"]

Technology advantage

Eliminates the 'bottleneck' of laboratory experiments by providing a 'Click-to-Synthesis' workflow; their binding affinity prediction models achieve accuracy levels comparable to Google DeepMind's AlphaFold while maintaining higher practical usability for medicinal chemists.

How they differentiate

HITS differentiates by providing a SaaS-based AI platform (HyperLab) rather than a service-based CRO model. It combines physics-based computational chemistry with deep learning to offer a 'Click-to-Synthesis' workflow that enables medicinal chemists to directly conduct 11-trillion-molecule simulations without requiring deep AI expertise.

Main competitors

["Standigm","Deargen","Schrodinger"]

Key partnerships

["Enterprise Customers: LG Chem, Boryeong Pharmaceutical, HK inno.N","Strategic Partners: eMolecules (USA) and Synple Chem (Switzerland) for automated molecule synthesis and procurement","Institutional: Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA), MD Anderson Cancer Center"]

Notable customers

["LG Chem","Boryeong Pharmaceutical","HK inno.N","Il-dong Pharmaceutical"]

Major milestones

["Series A Bridge completion in 2025 bringing cumulative funding to 10.3B KRW","Launched HyperLab 2.0 with LLM-integrated AI research assistant 'NOVA' (April 2025)","Selected for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups 'Scale-up TIPS' program (Sept 2024)","Established global molecule synthesis partnerships with eMolecules and Synple Chem (2025)","CTO Jae-chang Lim named in Forbes Asia 30 Under 30"]

Growth metrics

Reached 10.3B KRW in cumulative funding; achieved 9x higher hit rates in drug discovery compared to traditional methods.

Market positioning

Leading South Korean AI drug discovery SaaS provider transitioning into a global bioinformatics tool developer.

Geographic focus

South Korea (domestic market leader), North America (via eMolecules partnership), and Europe (via Synple Chem partnership).

Patents and IP

Holds multiple core patents including 'Deep learning-based molecular design technology' and 'Fragment-based molecular generation deep learning technology' (Registered in KR).

About Woo-yeon Kim

Professor at KAIST (Department of Chemistry and Graduate School of Data Science) and a renowned expert in computational chemistry. He previously served as the Head of the AI Drug Discovery Support Center at the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA) and was a Senior Researcher at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Official website: