NetTargets
NetTargets is a South Korea-based AI drug discovery company, spun out of KAIST in 2019, that builds network-biology AI platforms (N-MAP, N-CAP) for mechanism analysis and compound prediction, serving pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical-center clients through research collaborations and licensing.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersYusong, South Korea
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What NetTargets does
NetTargets is a South Korea-based AI drug discovery company founded in 2019 as a spinout from KAIST, headquartered in Daejeon with an R&D center in Pangyo. The company develops network-biology-driven AI platforms, primarily N-MAP for mechanism-of-action analysis and N-CAP for compound analysis, that help pharmaceutical researchers identify drug targets, predict compound behavior, design combination therapies, and explore cellular reprogramming and regenerative medicine applications. The platforms are grounded in 20+ years of systems biology research originating from KAIST, and are applied to oncology, fibrosis, and other therapeutic areas where understanding biological networks is critical to target selection.
The company's commercial model is B2B and sales-led, targeting pharmaceutical and biotech enterprises through research-service engagements, strategic collaborations, and licensing arrangements. Its customer base includes Korean institutions such as Samsung Medical Center, Daewoong Therapeutics, Cellkey, and WOOJUNGBIO, as well as Swiss pharmaceutical company Debiopharm, with whom NetTargets announced a research collaboration in October 2025. Revenue is generated through service fees on research projects and milestone or licensing economics tied to collaborative drug-discovery programs. The company has supplemented customer revenue with non-dilutive government funding, including a TIPS grant in 2019 and selection for the Super-Gap 1000+ and AI Voucher programs in 2025, alongside venture funding across a Pre-Series A, a Series A in mid-2021, and additional stock issuances in 2024.
NetTargets firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- NetTargets
- Legal name
- NetTargets Inc.
- Website
- https://net-targets.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- NetTargets is a South Korea-based AI drug discovery company, spun out of KAIST in 2019, that builds network-biology AI platforms (N-MAP, N-CAP) for mechanism analysis and compound prediction, serving pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical-center clients through research collaborations and licensing.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
NetTargets industry classification
Industry- Product category
- AI Drug Discovery Software
- NAICS
- Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Other Computer Related Services (541519)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- AI/ML Platforms for Drug Discovery & Experiment Optimization (HLAGAJAO)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Target Identification & Validation Platforms (omics-driven, chemoproteomics, genetic validation) (HLAAAIAI), AI/ML-Enabled Biologic Discovery Platforms (computational design, in silico screening) (HLAAAIAE), Translational Medicine & Biomarkers (HLAIALAF)
Keywords
Where NetTargets is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Yusong
- HQ country
- South Korea
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices2 records
Markets served
NetTargets business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Research Services: Providing technical reports with the most promising drug targets and co-research services developing new drugs in close cooperation with pharmaceutical partners
- Strategic Research Collaborations: Deep collaborations with pharmaceutical companies on drug discovery programs, including technology licensing and co-development of therapeutic candidates
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
NetTargets product offering
Product offeringCore offering
NetTargets develops and operates AI-enhanced systems biology platforms, N-MAP (Mechanism Analysis Platform) and N-CAP (Compound Analysis Platform), that identify drug targets, analyze mechanisms of action, and validate drug candidates. The company delivers these capabilities to pharmaceutical and biotech clients through paid research services, co-research engagements, and technology licensing, including drug repurposing, target identification, and synergistic drug-combination analysis.
Product overview
NetTargets offers a unified platform portfolio centered on two core AI-enhanced systems biology products: N-MAP (Mechanism Analysis Platform) for clarifying drug-disease mechanisms and N-CAP (Compound Analysis Platform) for drug candidate validation and off-target analysis. These platforms are supported by a suite of research services including drug repurposing, control strategy analysis, mechanism of action analysis, technical reports, and co-research services. The company applies 20+ years of systems biology research to enable mechanism-based treatment strategy analysis for pharmaceutical companies seeking to reduce clinical trial failure rates.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- N-MAP: Mechanism analysis platform - clarifies drug-disease mechanism by decoding bio-complexity to unravel therapeutic strategies
- N-CAP
Products and services
- N-MAP (Mechanism Analysis Platform) An AI-driven mechanism analysis platform that identifies and validates drug targets by analyzing biological mechanisms and pathways. Designed for pharmaceutical and biotechnology researchers conducting early-stage drug discovery.
- N-CAP (Compound Analysis Platform) An AI-driven compound analysis platform that evaluates drug compounds and identifies synergistic drug pairings with interpretable predictions, supporting lead optimization and combination therapy discovery. Built for pharmaceutical and biotech research teams.
- AI Drug Discovery Research Services Professional research services delivered to pharmaceutical and biotech clients, including drug target identification, mechanism-of-action analysis, drug repurposing studies, and drug candidate validation. Provided as paid technical reports and co-research engagements.
- Strategic Research Collaborations Deep, multi-year research collaborations with pharmaceutical companies on drug discovery programs, including technology licensing and co-development of therapeutic candidates that generate royalty exposure.
Quantifiable outcome
- Less than 10% of clinical trials succeed; 40% fail due to inability to find drug-disease relationship; 30% fail from testing wrong patient groups - NetTargets' approach addresses these failure modes
Companies that use NetTargets
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
NetTargets technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability8 records
Feature4 records
NetTargets partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- DebiopharmcoreStrategic research collaboration to develop dual-payload antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for drug-resistant cancers. The alliance combines NetTargets' explainable AI drug discovery platform to identify synergistic drug pairings with Debiopharm's MultiLINK ADC Technology for coordinated delivery of two distinct warheads on a single ADC.
- WOOJUNGBIOcoreNetTargets contributes its proprietary AI-based systems biology modeling technology to WOOJUNGBIO's Open Innovation Project, enabling quantitative simulation of biological responses and prediction of drug mechanisms for a next-generation bioevaluation platform.
- Samsung Medical CentercoreNew drug research collaboration using NetTargets' N-MAP and N-CAP AI-enhanced systems biology-based drug development platforms for novel therapeutic development.
- Daewoong TherapeuticscoreAnticancer drug research collaboration using NetTargets' N-MAP and N-CAP AI-enhanced systems biology-based drug development platforms.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights5 records
NetTargets competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Standigm: South Korean AI drug discovery company applying proprietary AI pipelines to target identification, lead optimization and drug repurposing. Direct comparable in geography, business model (AI services + collaborations with Korean pharma) and therapeutic focus.
- Insilico Medicine: Global AI drug discovery company with end-to-end target ID, generative chemistry and clinical-stage pipeline. Direct peer in AI-native drug discovery serving pharma collaborators via platform deals, with overlapping ADC and oncology programs.
- Recursion Pharmaceuticals: AI-driven drug discovery combining high-throughput biology with machine learning across phenomics and target identification. Direct comparable in applying AI/ML to industrialize target discovery and engage large pharma partners.
- Exscientia: AI-native pharmatech with precision drug design and discovery platform serving pharma partners. Direct peer in AI drug discovery platform business model and pharma partnership GTM.
- Schrödinger: Physics-based computational chemistry and AI platform for drug discovery serving pharma and biotech customers. Comparable as a software-and-services AI platform targeting pharma R&D with shared computational drug discovery technology.
- BenevolentAI: AI drug discovery company combining knowledge graphs and ML to identify novel targets and drug repurposing opportunities. Comparable in applying AI to mechanism-driven target identification for pharma partners.
Emerging players
- Aria Pharmaceuticals: Earlier-stage AI drug discovery company focused on phenotypic data and target discovery. Comparable in using ML-augmented biological insight to identify novel targets, but smaller and less mature than NetTargets.
- Lantern Pharma: AI-driven oncology drug development company using machine learning on genomic data to identify responder populations and rescue clinical-stage assets. Partial overlap with NetTargets in AI-driven oncology target identification and pharma collaborations.
- Owkin: AI biotech applying federated learning and ML to drug discovery and diagnostics with pharma partnerships. Partial overlap in AI platform serving pharma collaborations and biomarker discovery adjacent to NetTargets' Cellkey work.
Regional players
- Deargen: South Korean AI drug discovery company using deep learning for molecular property prediction and drug design. Direct regional peer operating in the same Korean biotech ecosystem with overlapping pharma partnership GTM.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
NetTargets social profiles
Digital presenceNetTargets financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
NetTargets leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
NetTargets funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors8 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
NetTargets M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about NetTargets
What does NetTargets do?
NetTargets develops and operates AI-enhanced systems biology platforms, N-MAP (Mechanism Analysis Platform) and N-CAP (Compound Analysis Platform), that identify drug targets, analyze mechanisms of action, and validate drug candidates. The company delivers these capabilities to pharmaceutical and biotech clients through paid research services, co-research engagements, and technology licensing, including drug repurposing, target identification, and synergistic drug-combination analysis.
Is NetTargets a public or private company?
NetTargets is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was NetTargets founded?
NetTargets was founded in 2019. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is NetTargets based?
NetTargets is headquartered in Yusong, South Korea, in the Asia region.
How does NetTargets make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Research Services are the primary driver. The others are strategic Research Collaborations.
Who are NetTargets's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Standigm, Insilico Medicine, Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Exscientia, Schrödinger and BenevolentAI. Emerging players are Aria Pharmaceuticals, Lantern Pharma and Owkin. Deargen is listed as a regional player.
Does NetTargets have an API?
No public API is recorded for NetTargets.
What industry is NetTargets in?
NetTargets's product category is AI Drug Discovery Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAGAJAO, AI/ML Platforms for Drug Discovery & Experiment Optimization, with a secondary code of HLAAAIAI, Target Identification & Validation Platforms (omics-driven, chemoproteomics, genetic validation). Its NAICS code is 541714 and its SIC code is 7372.