Ubergizmo was a media partner of the Global Online Meetup, Best of MIK Award @ CES 2023, an award that rewards the best startups that have already passed several drastic selections before arriving at this culminating point.
MIK stands for “Made in Korea” and is a brand developed by Aving, a media company that covers many international consumer electronics events. Ubergizmo was asked to select three companies based on our interests, market experience, and technical background (Hubert and Eliane are both former game developers).
The choice was not easy, but our top 3 companies and products are Narma Inc (#1), SevenPointOne (#2), and BeomJun E&C (#3).
Narma Inc
Narma Inc designs and builds professional drones for various markets, including security, surveillance, medical and delivery drones. Their tilt-rotor drone was fascinating because it comes with both vertical take-off (VTOL) convenience and fixed-wing endurance, speed, and range.
It uses a VTOL concept similar to the famous Osprey plane that U.S. Marines use in combat. This efficient design makes Narma Inc a direct delivery competitor of Google or Amazon.
This company is a spin-off of the Korea Aerospace Institute and can pack a lot of technologies into its products. These drones can fly at night and beyond the visual line of sight (BVLOS). At the same time, they can endure high wind (50 meters/sec) that many competitors simply cannot.
Finally, the drone is smart enough to fulfill its mission even if the GPS connectivity is lost. Its last line of defense is a parachute that will open to prevent it from causing damage if there is a critical failure. That’s an FAA mandate.
SevenPointOne
SevenPointOne is a digital healthcare company behind AlzWIN, an application that uses AI (Artificial Intelligence) to help detect cognitive impairments and dementia very early. As you may know, the earlier such things are noticed and the more likely it is possible to slow them down or even prevent further degradations in some cases.
AlzWIN is centered around a patented algorithm that uses 20 metrics to perform its task. For example, verbal fluency is one of the metrics that is sampled. SevenPointOne has gone through peer reviews, pilot projects and clinical trials to support its claim.
Once detected, cognitive impairments can be managed in different ways, and the company also has Sentents, a virtual reality (VR) app that helps users with their cognitive performance. So far, SevenPointOne has recently worked with hospitals, insurance, and pharmaceutical companies in Asia.
The company’s scientists estimate about 70 potential causes for dementia, and 30% of these can potentially be treated, while others can only be managed for now. For example, a poor diet might cause a faster descent into dementia. Finally, 91% of US seniors go undiagnosed for dementia, and that’s perhaps the best reason to have an easy, effective and affordable tool.
BeomJun E&C
BeomJun E*C is a company that produces concrete. On the surface, this hardly seems like a “high-tech” product, but its concrete has low-carbon characteristics, which would significantly contribute to alleviating the carbon footprint in the construction industry.
This company uses a form of Sulfur Concrete. Such concrete does offer exciting characteristics like a very low carbon emission, strength, and a relatively short time to acquire its full strength.
Sulfur replaces cement as the concrete’s binding agent, and that’s why the carbon footprint is so low. Manufacturing cement is responsible for about 5% of worldwide carbon emissions. Sulfur Concrete has been theorized and discussed since the 70s, so the concept is not entirely new. Instead, it is its manufacturing and implementation that we’re interested in.
Using sulfur can be challenging in many ways since sulfur is an element that is not inert. It can react to other chemicals, and it is tough to give Sulfur Concrete long-term endurance and safety. BeomJun E&C claims to have designed a stable sulfur concrete that is twice as durable as regular concrete, with anti-bacterial properties.
Additionally, the sulfur used is a byproduct of existing petrochemical processes, and waste automobile tires are also part of the formula, so the raw material is abundant. The carbon footprint is reduced by 30%, but this sulfur concrete is also 30% more expensive than traditional alternatives. More information and specifications (PDF).
Other companies
The three companies above truly blew our minds away, but others are also worthy of mention (video pitches below), including:
- Nuvi-labs is an automated food scanner (hardware and software) that aims to reduce food waste worldwide.
- LiBEST is a flexible Li-ion battery that can be integrated into consumer electronics of new shapes and forms, including VR gloves or smartwatch bands.
- Margo. A dad initially created a virtual baseball pitch coach for his young son who was struggling to throw a heavy ball. Now it’s a new and unique product for all.
- E-MPS, a provider of batteries for industrial and heavy applications such as 5G cell tower equipment and industrial BiDirectional inverters.
Filed in . Read more about CES, CES 2023, Editorspick, Innovation, Korea, Social Hit and Startups.
