Orthocare raises $2.57M to bring camera-based rehab AI into pivotal trials
What's the deal? OrthocareDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Korean startup that measures joint range of motion and muscle strength from ordinary camera footage, has raised US$2.87M in an early-stage round. DaewoongDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Investment, the corporate venture arm of pharmaceutical group Daewoong, led the round. Taurus VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the Korea Credit Guarantee FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, J&P Medi Partners, and Olbareun Pharm also took part.
What's the endgame? Founded in April 2024 by Kim Jong-ho, an orthopaedic professor at the Catholic University of Korea, Orthocare uses AI vision to turn standard 2D video into measurements — no body sensors required. It runs three products: a clinical measurement device, a digital therapeutic (DTx) for home rehabilitation, and a portal for clinicians to view the data together.
Why now? The company recently won approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for a confirmatory clinical trial of its home DTx in frozen shoulder, and is starting multi-centre trials at major Korean university hospitals. Its clinical device is already in use at 25 medical institutions, the company says, including Seoul National University Hospital and Seoul Asan Medical Center.
What's the money for? Orthocare plans to finish the DTx trial, then pursue product approval and national health insurance reimbursement. It is also preparing US FDA and European CE clearance and will exhibit at CES 2027 early next year.
What could go wrong? The round's value hinges on what follows — clinical results, regulatory approval, and securing an insurance reimbursement code. Commercialisation, not the raise itself, is the real test.
The pre-A lifts Orthocare's total funding to about US$3.55M, including a seed round last year. "We will build the standard for musculoskeletal medical AI spanning everything from surgery to home rehabilitation," said Kim (translated from Korean).
The signal: Investors keep backing technology that measures movement without costly equipment or wearable sensors — camera-based gait analysis firm Eight StudioDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → also raised a pre-A this year. Orthocare's distinction is moving from hospital-adopted hardware into confirmatory trials for a patient-facing rehab DTx.
Read more: platum.kr
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
