[Kyung Hee University Campus Town Startups 2025] Neobio develops solutions for preventive observations and control measures for deadly diseases that affect fruit trees

Hyunjun HONG, CEO of Neobio, Inc.

Development of an AI scanner using small molecule compounds that specifically react to the bacteria that cause fire blight
Establishment of an AI-based preventive observation and control measure decision-making support system and integrated analysis of various data

Founded in December 2024 by CEO Hyunjun Hong (32), Neobio is a climate tech startup that develops solutions for preventive observations and control measures for deadly infectious diseases in fruit trees caused by abnormal weather.

Hong said, “Neobio develops solutions for preventive observations and control measures for plant infectious diseases that are becoming unpredictable due to abnormal weather. In particular, we focus on deadly infectious diseases that are managed at the national level, such as fire blight."

Fire blight is a plant infectious disease that spreads quickly to surrounding orchards once it occurs, causing serious problems. Before founding Neobio, Hong was a young farmer preparing to start an agricultural business in the Chungcheongnam-do area. While preparing, he decided to pursue a Master's in 6th Industry Convergence Management at Kyung Hee University's Graduate School of Business Administration to gain expertise. During this time, he learned about a fluorescent substance technology developed by Kyung Hee University's College of Medicine for the specific detection of the pathogen that causes fire blight.

“The moment I encountered this technology, I knew that it could solve the problems I had faced in the field, namely the plant disease problem caused by climate change, which is difficult to predict and causes enormous damage once it occurs. In particular, I was convinced that this technology could reduce the number of unfortunate cases in which young farmers with little know-how are unable to respond properly to such problems and suffer losses, and that it could further enable data-based scientific farming."

The solution consists of two main steps, enabling precise and proactive responses to plant infectious diseases, which are a chronic problem for fruit farmers.

The first step is to “establish a smart preventive observation protocol.” This lays the foundation for securing accurate and objective field data. The core technology is an AI scanner that detects fluorescent probes. This scanner uses small molecule compounds that react specifically to the pathogen that causes fire blight. Spraying the suspected area with the scanner and illuminating it with UV light makes it possible to confirm infection within 10 minutes.

"NFC tags are attached to sample trees to divide the orchard into blocks, and each tree's unique ID, disease history, control measure records, etc., are managed via a smartphone app. All data collected in the field is sent to a cloud server according to standardized protocols."

The second step is to ”establish an AI-based preventive observation and control measure decision-making support system." A multimodal AI analysis engine comprehensively analyzes data on the presence of pathogens, weather, geographic information systems (GIS), and past disease history. Cross attention and graph neural network technology predict the risk of disease occurrence and spread.

"Using large language model (LLM) and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) technology, the system provides customized control measure strategies in natural language that consider pesticide databases and plant pathology. It also sends immediate notifications to farm owners when the risk exceeds a critical threshold. The minimum viable product (MVP) of the diagnostic kit is complete, and the scanner will be finished in the first half of the year. We will then begin full-scale field data collection and verification in the second half of the year. In the first half of next year, we plan to launch our decision-making support service on the market."

Hong emphasized that the solution's greatest competitive advantages can be summarized in three points. First, it is fast and accurate field diagnosis technology. Conventional diagnostic kits required a complicated process of collecting samples, grinding them, and extracting juice, but Neobio's fluorescent probe-based diagnostic kit can confirm positive or negative results within 10 minutes on site by simply spraying the suspected area. This enables quick decision-making on site and an early response, as infections can be detected even at the asymptomatic stage.

Second, it is a block-based management system. The condition of each tree in the orchard, its disease history, and its control measure records are systematically digitized and managed through NFC tags and AI scanners. This system not only enables conventional regional management, but also precise management at the block level within the orchard. This allows for more sophisticated predictions and customized prescriptions based on accumulated data.

Third, it is a data- and AI-based decision-making support system. It supports decision-making based on agricultural domain knowledge by integrating and analyzing data from various sources with AI. Previously, existing control measures relied on farmers' experience and general guidelines. However, Neobio's solutions provide customized control measure strategies that consider the characteristics of each farm, weather conditions, and actual pathogen density.

Regarding future plans, Hong said, "We will successfully complete field testing of diagnostic tools on farms in the first half of this year. At the same time, we will prepare for FDA and CE certification to quickly enter the global market for disease-free seedling inspection. To this end, we believe it is most important to accumulate field references step by step, and we are making efforts in various areas."

Founded: December 2024
Main business: agricultural, forestry, and veterinary research and development; application software development and supply
Achievements: Selected for the Data Voucher Support Project for 2025; Selected for the Pangyo Techno Valley Startup Campus Incubation Program; Selected for the Kyung Hee Technology Holding Company x Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation G-Program

reporter jinho lee
jinho2323@hankyung.com