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STIC Ventures

5 Fl. MSA Bldg., 12 Teheran-ro 78-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 06194, South Korea

Overview

STIC Ventures invests in small and mid-sized venture companies with core technologies and new business models.

Total investments
15
Lead investments
4
Investments · 12mo
4
Active investors
5
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Investment portfolio

  • Asteromorph

    Participated · Seed · May 2026

    Asteromorph develops a foundation model, Spacer, that it says combines a base LLM with deep domain knowledge and multi-step reasoning to autonomously generate research ideas and scientific hypotheses in biology and chemistry. Its flagship initiative, the "Library Project," aims to run the autonomous system at scale to uncover fundamental mechanisms of life and compile findings into a structured database. The company emphasizes autonomous hypothesis generation and end-to-end scientific workflows rather than solely assisting human researchers. Leadership includes CEO Lee Min-hyung, who entered advanced research training early, and a core team of young researchers from top Korean STEM programs. Financially, Asteromorph has raised a $31.4M seed round and previously raised approximately ₩5 billion. The company faces the challenge of validating model-generated discoveries through rigorous experimental work at scale.

  • ADEL

    Participated · Equity · Apr 2026

    ADEL develops therapeutics targeting central nervous system disorders and advances antibody candidates through clinical development. Its notable programs include ADEL-Y01, a tau antibody candidate that was licensed out to Sanofi in a deal valued up to $1.04 billion with an $80 million non-refundable upfront payment. The company is advancing follow-on candidates ADEL-Y04 (ApoE4-targeting antibody) and ADEL-Y03 (β2-microglobulin-targeting antibody) and aims to accelerate their clinical timelines. ADEL intends to strengthen partnerships with domestic and international CNS specialists and further develop proprietary technology platforms. The company cites global business achievements and investor support as validation of its pipeline value. Management plans to complete a KOSDAQ technology special listing within the year and deploy the newly secured funds to deliver early pipeline development results.

  • BreezeBio

    Participated · Series B · Feb 2026

    BreezeBio, formerly GenEdit, engineers polymer-based NanoGalaxy nanoparticles that deliver genetic payloads such as mRNA with cell-type precision across immune, cardiac, pulmonary and central nervous system tissues. The company has shifted from being solely a delivery-technology provider to building a therapeutic pipeline concentrated on autoimmune disease and oncology. Its lead candidate, BRZ-101, delivers autoantigen-encoding mRNA and tolerogenic co-factors to antigen-presenting cells to induce antigen-specific regulatory T cells and aims to restore immune tolerance in type 1 diabetes; the program is now entering IND-enabling studies after positive preclinical results in mice and non-human primates. BreezeBio is also extending NanoGalaxy with ligand conjugation to reach T cells and enable in vivo CAR-T therapies. Beyond internal programs, the firm maintains a multi-year collaboration and licensing agreement with Genentech that has already produced an initial milestone payment. The recent financing strengthens its balance sheet, allowing continued platform expansion and clinical advancement of its pipeline.

  • PineTree Therapeutics

    Participated · Series B · Oct 2025

    Founded in 2019, PineTree Therapeutics is building AbReptor™, a proprietary platform that creates modular bispecific and multispecific degraders capable of eliminating membrane-bound and extracellular proteins that drive tumor growth and therapeutic resistance. The technology has shown strong preclinical efficacy and safety against receptor tyrosine kinases, including those refractory to existing TKIs and immune checkpoint inhibitors. Beyond oncology, the company believes its degraders may provide new approaches for inflammatory and immunology indications. PineTree is also exploring a novel class of degrading antibody–drug conjugates and trispecific degraders to enhance durability and tolerability. In July 2024 it inked an AstraZeneca collaboration that carries more than $500 million in potential milestones and royalties around its preclinical EGFR degrader. Proceeds from its recent Series B financing will fund IND-enabling work, first-in-human studies, and expansion of its degrader portfolio, while supporting additional strategic collaborations. The company remains pre-revenue and has not yet entered clinical trials, putting near-term emphasis on advancing lead candidates into Phase I.

  • Nota AI

    Led · Series C · Jun 2024

    Nota AI develops on-device generative AI optimization and lightweighting technology through its NetsPresso platform, enabling AI models to run directly on edge devices. The company has established official partnerships with global tech firms including NVIDIA, ARM, Intel, STMicroelectronics and Renesas and holds contracts to provide optimization technology to leading AI semiconductor companies. Founded in 2015 and based in Seoul, Nota AI has expanded its customer base domestically and internationally and has received early backing from Naver D2SF. Cumulative funding since inception is approximately $42.6 million, and the company reports strong near-term revenue momentum—expecting first-half 2024 sales to exceed total 2023 sales and forecasting a 300% sales increase for 2024 versus the prior year. With the new funding, Nota AI plans to recruit top AI optimization talent, deepen collaborations with global AI semiconductor players, and extend its optimization technology into industries such as robotics and mobility. The company is preparing for an IPO in early 2025 with Mirae Asset Securities as lead underwriter. Nota is a compressed AI solutions and software optimization platform founded in 2015 that focuses on B2B and B2G markets. Its main product, NetsPresso, is an automatic model compression platform that downsizes computer vision models for edge and low-spec device deployment. Nota’s AI technology is applied in intelligent transportation, facial recognition, and security and surveillance through solutions such as Driver Monitoring System, Driver Authentication, and Smart Access Control System. In November 2021 Nota raised $14.7M in a Series B, bringing its total funding to $23M. The company plans to expand its global business, enhance its AI optimization technology, and strengthen its R&D team by recruiting additional top-tier talent. Nota is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.

Team

  • Hyunseok Lee

    director

  • ChangMo Nam

    Senior Associate

    LinkedIn
  • Minki Ryu

    Chief Investigator

  • Junyong Lee

    Senior Associate