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The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service hosted the awards ceremony for the 2026 Healthcare Big Data and AI Startup Contest at COEX in Seoul, according to an official announcement on May 22. The annual competition, marking its 12th year, aims to unearth innovative artificial intelligence concepts within the medical sector across two distinct tracks: product and service development, and idea planning.
Competition Growth and Evaluation Process
Participation surged significantly for the 2026 event, drawing 304 competing teams between April 6 and May 29, which represents a roughly 149% increase compared to the 122 teams that entered the previous year, as reported by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. A panel of evaluation experts specializing in healthcare, artificial intelligence, and investment reviewed the submissions through an initial document screening and a secondary interview evaluation to narrow the field down to 16 finalist candidates before determining the ultimate category winners. Organizers introduced a dedicated “AI innovation” criterion to the evaluation framework this year to place primary emphasis on teams effectively embedding core artificial intelligence methodologies into their models.
Top Award Winners and Cash Prizes
The 16 selected teams received a combined total of 2160만 원 in prize money alongside ministerial and agency honors, including the Ministry of Health and Welfare Ministerial Prize and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service President’s Prize. In the product and service development division, the team “Pill Good” claimed the top prize and a 1000만원 포상 cash award for developing South Korea’s first artificial intelligence-powered pharmacy-style general medication exploration kiosk. Meanwhile, the “GMG” team captured the top prize in the idea planning division, earning a 200만원 포상 reward for a business-to-government policy decision-making support solution designed to predict regional essential medical service gaps and emergency transport vulnerabilities.
| Award Level | Product & Service Development Track | Idea Planning Track |
|---|---|---|
| Top Prize (Ministerial) | Pill Good (AI-based pharmacy-style OTC medicine kiosk) – 10M won | GMG (B2G regional medical gap and emergency transport forecasting) – 2M won |
| Excellence Prize | A-dot Cure Co., Ltd. – 5M won | Fearless After Cancer – 1.6M won |
| Encouragement Prize | Cichl – 2M won | Revhit – 1M won |
Future Support and National Advancement
Category winners, led by the top-performing teams, secured eligibility to advance to the finals of the 14th Pan-Governmental Public Data and AI Startup Contest scheduled for September, where they will compete for the presidential prize, according to contest administrators. To foster commercial viability, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service announced plans to deliver comprehensive follow-up assistance, encompassing big data utilization support, professional education on legal issues, presentation skill enhancement, consulting, investment-attracting opportunities, and data fee waivers.
Institutional Vision for Medical AI
Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service President Hong Seung-kwon stated that the competition was designed to generate new business models that enhance public health and medical access by harnessing healthcare big data and artificial intelligence. Hong emphasized that the agency is expanding its artificial intelligence infrastructure through the expansion and relocation of the Digital Cloud Center and the declaration of the HIRA AI Ethics Principles to solidify a foundation for safe, trustworthy AI adoption and digital transformation.
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