The Fit 4 Start accelerator gave SafeAI key insights into the EU market. The South Korean startup has now incorporated in Luxembourg to drive its European growth.
Lena Mårtensson
Things are moving quickly at SafeAI. 14 months after its creation in Seoul, South Korea, the young company 20 employees, revenues exceeding €550,000, 8 R&D projects with a total budget of €1 million and collaboration partners in both Asia and Europe. A development that confirms the relevance of its AI-enhanced security solutions.
“Today, there is a lot of need for security solutions,” underlines CEO and founder Wonseop (Sean) Lee. With previous experiences from a more transversal, artificial intelligence (AI) company, he chose to focus SafeAI on security only after careful research of where the strongest demand was to be found.
So far, the company has two flagship products. The first one, the video management system SafeEYE, uses AI vision technology to detect anomalous behaviour and can be used to gather market intelligence, enable data-based decision making, and manage public safety. “The system can, for example, trace and detect abnormal behaviour such as a fight, theft or a person falling down, and alert the security staff,” explains Mr Lee. The solution is provided to CCTV companies, airports and police authorities. SafeAI has also developed SafeViewer, an application using satellite data for object detection.
SafeAI started to reach out to the European market at an early stage. Mr Lee was advised by a contact in Germany to check out Fit 4 Start, the Luxembourg acceleration programme that helps startups from across the globe hone their offerings to succeed on the EU market. He successfully applied for a place in the 6-month programme in 2024, and appreciated the advice provided by the coaches and the jury made up of seasoned entrepreneurs and investors.
Coming to Europe is challenging, but I received detailed feedback on issues such as cultural differences. I was amazed by the level of support received.
Sean Lee, SafeAI
“Coming to Europe is challenging, but I received detailed feedback on issues such as cultural differences. I was also amazed by the level of support received. On my second visit to Luxembourg, at a time when the company was not even yet fully operational, a meeting was organised for me with more than 10 people from the government, national innovation agency Luxinnovation and others, who actively listened to my needs and connected me with the help I needed. I met many trustworthy people and gained the confidence to expand my business here.”
Fit 4 Start also opened the door to new partnerships. On learning that SafeAI was cooperating with the police authorities in South Korea, one of the jury members offered to make an introduction to the Luxembourg police. As a result, the company is now working on a proof-of-concept project involving AI vision technology together with the Luxembourg police force, which has also established a link with the German Federal Police to ensure better results.
SafeAI also collaborates with a well-known Luxembourg industrial company, smart sensing solutions manufacturer IEE. One of IEE’s focus areas is smart buildings, for which it provides solutions for access control and people counting. “One concern is that sensors sometimes mistakenly count two people as one when they arrive together. There is also a need to enhance the accuracy of people detection and be able to estimate a person’s age and gender. In our joint R&D project, we are working to solve these challenges with AI. We are combining different types of sensors to be able to do body recognition, rather than just face recognition,” says Mr Lee.
One of Luxembourg’s main attractions for SafeAI is its central European location, allowing close cooperation with countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, France and Belgium where the company is now expanding its client base. “Luxembourg is a very good testbed for me,” Mr Lee points out. “I find that people here are much faster than other Europeans, and very positive to AI and new technology.”
Luxembourg is a very good testbed for me. I find that people here are much faster than other Europeans, and very positive to AI and new technology.
Sean Lee, SafeAI
Together with researchers from Korea University and Chung-Ang University, SafeAI has authored a scientific paper on the detection of “cheapfake” – low-cost, falsely manipulated content – that was presented at the International Conference on Multimedia Retrieval (ICMR) 2024 where it was awarded first place in the Cheapfake Detection Challenge. Mr Lee now hopes to be able to set up a project involving the Luxembourg, German, and Korean police on automated fake detection. At the same time, the company offers its ready-made solutions to private industry and notably targets airports, factories, and the security sector.
The plans for 2025 includes hiring the first local employees for the Luxembourg office. In addition, Mr Lee plans to move here with his family. “I already have a lot of experience in commercialising AI and am confident of SafeAI’s technology and price competitiveness. I hope that our technology will bring stability and contribute positively to people’s lives,” he concludes.
