Carbon Black, a company building physical AI companies, has hired former Lunit co-founder Jang Min-hong as a partner.

Carbon Black (CEO Taeyeon Moon), a venture studio that establishes and grows companies specializing in the physical AI field, announced on the 12th that it has recruited former CBO (Chief Business Officer) Minhong Jang, co-founder of Lunit, a first-generation medical AI company that went public in 2022, as a partner.

Carbon Black is a physical AI specialized 'venture studio' established in 2024 by CEO Taeyeon Moon, former Vice President of machine vision company 'Sualab', which was acquired by Cognex, a NASDAQ-listed company in the US in 2019 for approximately 230 billion won, and Vice President Jongkwan Kim, who served as Head of Strategy at Suualab and CFO of VoiceThru.

A still relatively new concept in Korea, venture studios, unlike venture capital (VC) firms that simply invest in established startups, are company-building business models that oversee the entire process, from securing funding to attracting key talent, developing business strategies, and expanding markets. A prime example is Flagship Pioneering in the US, which spawned Moderna in the pharmaceutical industry.

With the addition of Partner Minhong Jang, who was named one of MIT Technology Review's "35 Under 35 Korean Innovators" in 2021, Carbon Black further strengthens its unrivaled expertise and execution capabilities within the venture and AI industries, based on the successful exit experience of all executives in the AI field.

Moon Tae-yeon, CEO of Carbon Black, said, “Partner Jang’s experience in overseeing the medical imaging solutions business at Lunit, building strategic partnerships with global medical device leaders such as GE Healthcare, Philips, and Fujifilm, and leading domestic and international business expansion will be a great help in the growth of Carbon Black.” He added, “He will focus on creating AI value for data hidden in industrial sites and expanding into the global market, which is his area of expertise.”

Meanwhile, Carbon Black established its first company, CarbonSix, a manufacturing-specialized physical AI company, last year with Yale University researcher Kim Je-hyeok and MIT robotics Ph.D.-graduate CTO Seo Hyeong-ju. In September, the company successfully commercialized physical AI technology through the industry's first standardized physical AI product, SigmaKit.