Startups originating from KAIST have recently been standing out in the global investment market. KAIST announced on the 23rd that Point2 Technology, co-founded by Professor Bae Hyun-min of the School of Electrical Engineering and KAIST alumni, completed a KRW 7,600 million (approximately KRW 1 trillion) investment round on the 21st (local time) from global investors including Maverick Silicon and UMC Capital.

The core technology driving this investment in Point2 Technology is its “e-tube” technology. Artificial intelligence (AI) data centers connect thousands of semiconductors, but conventional copper cables face limitations in transmission distance, while optical fibers have been criticized for high costs and power consumption.

The e-tube technology developed by KAIST researchers is a plastic waveguide-based data transmission technology that utilizes radio-frequency signals. Using this technology, transmission distance can be expanded tenfold compared to copper cables, while power consumption and cost can each be reduced to one-third of that of optical fiber. The company was also selected as a “2026 Pioneer” by BloombergNEF, a global energy and technology analysis institution.

The KAIST Startup Institute has produced several successful companies including Point2 Technology. Rainbow Robotics, now a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, AI medical imaging analysis company Lunit, biotech startup CureCell, and Oncocross are among the firms that went public through KAIST’s startup support programs.

Bae Hyun-min, head of the KAIST Startup Institute, stated, “The institute will continue to strengthen support so that startups with outstanding technologies can quickly enter global markets.”

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