[SeoulTech x Dong-A.com Joint Planning] Seoul National University of Science and Technology (hereafter referred to as SeoulTech) operates various support programs to aid the growth of startups, including preliminary and early startup packages, maker spaces, and global collaborations. Furthermore, in partnership with Dong-A.com, it provides global news to assist startups in overseas promotion and expansion, introducing promising deep-tech startups both domestically and internationally.
When constructing buildings or interior spaces, expected designs are processed into images using computer graphics (CG). Depending on the composition, there are plans, layouts, and elevations, as well as cross-sections and perspectives that add detailed content to the images that make up the interior and exterior of the architecture.
These types of images are created through several stages. The 'planning stage' involves gathering visual materials such as architectural drawings and site photos and setting the atmosphere and conditions. The 'modeling stage' involves concretizing with 3D modeling software. The 'rendering stage' involves setting visual angles, textures, and lighting on 3D data, and the 'post-processing stage' involves enhancing the detailed completeness through corrections after work. The work details vary depending on the nature and quality of the images to be used, but it typically takes from a few days to over a month.
Then, he joined forces with his undergraduate roommate, co-founder Lee Dae-han, and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Ko Hyun-jun, to pursue entrepreneurship, founding the current 'Planby Technologies' in April 2023. CEO Noh explained, "While devising a business that could recover as much as we invested, the idea of applying generative AI to a vertical market emerged. Upon investigating industry sectors where bottlenecks were evident, the plan to solve architectural design visual design with generative AI came about. Based on market response and rapid development capabilities, we were able to start the business with investment from 500 Global, an American venture capital firm."
He continued, "In a corporate environment, architectural drawings or internal data cannot be leaked recklessly, making it difficult to use commercial image AI models. In this case, we provide each model specialized for internal use by separately equipping AI with algorithms specialized for architecture and training it only with data provided by the company."
A Technology Company Embracing Architecture··· Opening Up Possibilities for Business Expansion
The actual implementation cases are also intriguing. Planby Technologies is conducting proof of concept (PoC) with major domestic construction companies and is also in the process of selling solutions. Notably, they conducted a proof of concept with CBRE, the world's largest commercial real estate services company. In January this year, Planby Technologies carried out a project to apply various designs to a property at CBRE's San Jose branch in the U.S., and the Japan branch formed a team to pilot Planby Studio, applying AI to commercial real estate services. The key is to apply various styles while perfectly maintaining the structure of spaces such as walls, floors, windows, and ceilings.
Growth with AWS Jungle Program and SeoulTech Startup Support Group
Last year, Planby Technologies was selected for Deep Tech TIPS, which supports new industry startups with excellent technology and personnel, receiving up to KRW 1.5 billion over three years. In May this year, it was also selected for a global collaboration program jointly organized by Amazon Web Services (AWS), the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and the Korea Startup Promotion Agency.
Selected companies receive up to KRW 200 million in commercialization funds, AWS cloud credits, seminars and in-depth consulting with SaaS experts, global networking, and investment attraction support. CEO Noh stated, "AWS's cloud is strong in AI and SaaS, and since our service itself is AI SaaS, we applied. We are currently utilizing AWS infrastructure extensively for backend servers necessary for service operation and data management. AWS also suggested that we approach the business from multiple angles using our AI engine," revealing the support details.
The Seoul National University of Science and Technology Startup Support Group also facilitated meetings and networking with various experts related to legal consultation or overseas expansion. Additionally, it helped grasp global trends through seminars related to market trends. Beyond Deep Tech TIPS to Success in New Projects
IT Dong-A Reporter Nam Si-hyun (sh@itdonga.com)
AI-translated with ChatGPT. Provided as is; original Korean text prevails.
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