A practical acceleration program designed to support the entry of domestic digital healthcare startups into the U.S. market has begun recruiting participants. As a long-term program that goes beyond simple site visits to facilitate investment attraction, business contracts, and partnerships with medical institutions, it is attracting significant interest from startups preparing to target the U.S. market.
Digital Healthcare Partners (DHP), an investment firm specializing in digital healthcare, is hosting the ‘Silicon Valley Bootcamp 2026’ and recruiting participating companies. This program was organized as part of Seoul Biohub’s global expansion growth acceleration program. Operated by DHP in partnership with Silicon Valley accelerator Outsome, this is the second session following the inaugural cohort last year.
The selected companies will receive phased acceleration for approximately nine months, from July of this year to March of next year, with the goal of entering the U.S. market.
In Phase 1, strategies for entering the U.S. market will be established and pitching to investors will be refined through customized mentoring for each company. Experienced founders with U.S. market entry experience and local venture capital representatives will participate to share market entry know-how.
In Phase 2, all participating companies visit Silicon Valley to participate in a two-week residential bootcamp. Accommodation, meals, and transportation costs necessary for the stay are covered, and opportunities to meet directly with key stakeholders in the U.S. digital healthcare ecosystem are provided.
Program participants will engage in roundtables with specialized healthcare investment firms, networking with Silicon Valley founders, meetings with medical institution officials, and mentoring on U.S. regulations and insurance systems. In particular, this cohort plans to strengthen the linkage between Stanford University’s Biodesign program and StartX, and expand practical training on regulations and fee structures, which are considered the biggest barriers to entering the U.S. market.
1st Cohort Achieved Local Contracts and Investments… Direct Investment in Outstanding Companies Also Takes Place
The strength of the program is that continuous follow-up support continues even after the visit to the United States.
In Phase 3, regular mentoring and workshops are conducted to help translate business opportunities identified locally in the U.S. into tangible results. Advisory services are provided on overall management, including marketing, human resources, finance, and investment attraction, while support is also provided for utilizing local networks.
Outstanding companies will be given the opportunity to present at a Demo Day hosted by DHP, and direct equity investment will be made in at least one of the selected companies. Subsequent growth support through TIPS recommendations will also be considered.
Seven startups, including Lillycover, Metrit, Monit, Innovide, Talos, Papa Roway, and Huber, participated in the first cohort of the program held earlier this year. The participating companies connected with networks of major Silicon Valley investors and founders, and some companies generated actual business results in the U.S. market. Lillycover secured a PoC contract with a local customer and new revenue, Huber launched a full-scale entry into the U.S. market, and Talos achieved the feat of signing a clinical research contract.
The industry assesses that as the digital healthcare sector grows rapidly, centered on the U.S. market, specialized programs are becoming increasingly important for domestic startups in the process of initial market validation and network building.
“This program focuses not merely on on-site visits, but on generating tangible results in sales and attracting investment in the U.S. market,” said Choi Yoon-seop, CEO of DHP. “We plan to continue supporting domestic digital healthcare startups so that they can secure competitiveness in the global market.”
Applications are open until the 24th and can be checked through the announcement for the Global Expansion Growth Acceleration Program on the Seoul Biohub website.
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