[The Kwangwoon University 2025 Pre-Startup Package CEO] SOOZOO AI, Launches ‘All-in-One Proposal Automation’, 53 Years of Expertise from the Global No. 1 Firm Meets AI

Hyeontak Lee CEO of SOOZOO AI

-Core Tech, An AI Proposal Agent trained on the proven 96-step method of the Global No. 1 Bid Consulting Firm (53-year history)

-Service, Creating high-quality proposals through a hybrid team of AI Agents, Human Directors

-Achievement, Selected as ‘Top Excellence Enterprise’ in 2025 (Deep-Tech) & secured TIPS recommendation

A new startup is transforming the difficult and complex bid proposal process. SOOZOO AI combines 46 trillion KRW of bidding experience with advanced AI technology.

Since the Global No. 1 Bid Consulting Firm entered Korea in 2008, the proposal consulting market has grown significantly. During this time, CEO Lee Hyeontak served as the Head of Business at the Korean branch of this top-tier global firm. He is a veteran who consulted for 1,500 companies over 15 years, helping them win 3.2 trillion KRW in contracts.

Recently, CEO Hyeontak Lee led SK Broadband to win an 83.2 billion KRW government project, building a strong partnership with Korea's largest telecommunications company. However, despite this success, he saw a serious problem in the market.

“Large companies have the capital to hire expensive experts to win. But SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) often miss opportunities because they struggle with writing proposals, even if their technology is excellent”, said CEO Lee. “SMEs make up 80% of the public procurement market. I wanted to use technology to fix this ‘tilted playing field’.”

To solve this, he created ‘SOOZOO’, an AI-based proposal automation platform.

SOOZOO handles everything from predicting win rates to writing the proposal. For a monthly fee, companies get personalized bid information. It analyzes their “probability of winning” to help them focus only on “winnable battles.” It also cuts administrative work to zero by automating paperwork and quickly provides high-quality proposals through the collaboration of AI and human experts.

There are many AI services today, but SOOZOO’s advantage is its “depth of content.”

CEO Lee emphasized, “Good AI technology is common now. The real winner is decided by expertise.” He added, “SOOZOO’s AI is different because it learned the Global No. 1 Firm's 96-step process and a vast library of winning proposals accumulated over 53 years.”

The SOOZOO team combines Korea’s top bidding experts, including Director Kim Yong-ki (Founder of the Global Firm's Korean branch), with KAIST-educated developers. It is the perfect mix of AI Technology and Bidding Expertise.

Launching this March, SOOZOO will first target the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) industry. The company has already proven its value. In a test with ‘Company A’, SOOZOO matched 20 planners and used AI to successfully win a 518 million KRW contract.

The business model is flexible. It offers a reasonable SaaS (subscription) model for SMEs and a secure on-premise service for large enterprises. Discussions are already underway with major companies like SK Broadband.

Recognizing this potential, SOOZOO AI has secured seed investment from Blissvine Ventures and a recommendation for the TIPS program (government-backed tech startup support). The funds will be used to upgrade the AI agents and technology. The company also proved its capabilities by being selected as the ‘Top Excellence Enterprise’ in the 2025 Kwangwoon University Preliminary Startup Package.

CEO Lee stated, “The Canadian Deputy Prime Minister recently visited Korea to sell a $60 billion submarine project. This shows the national importance of winning bids.” He added, “Just as the Global No. 1 Firm opened the consulting market in the past, SOOZOO AI will use digital AI to help SMEs grow and expand globally.”

Established: December 2025
Core Business: Development and operation of SOOZOO, an AI-based SaaS solution for public procurement proposals, RFP analysis using intelligent multi-AI agents, Establishment of bidding strategies and automated generation of initial proposal drafts, An integrated platform for matching specialized planners and managing proposal quality
Key Achievements: Successfully secured a 518 million KRW contract for ‘Company A’ in the MICE industry using the SOOZOO model (Matching 20 planners and AI Agent collaboration), Executed a contract for the diagnosis of SK Broadband (SKB)’s proposal process, Selected as a Top Excellence Enterprise in the Deep-Tech category of the 2025 Kwangwoon University Preliminary Startup Package and secured TIPS recommendation rights

reporter jinho lee
jinho2323@hankyung.com