Heimdex Selected for South Korea's 2026 Startup City Initiative With Upload-Free Video Search Technology
Video AI company Heimdex announced on the 21st that it has been selected as a Gwangju-based support company under the early-stage track of the investment-linked startup package in South Korea's "2026 Startup City Building Project," an initiative led by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. The program aims to close the gap in startup activity between the Seoul metropolitan area and the rest of the country. The selection comes with regional commercialization funding that Heimdex will use to accelerate the launch of its automated vlog-production tool and a B2C marketplace for trading raw video footage.
Heimdex's core technology enables video search without uploading original files to any external server. Conventional video AI platforms require users to upload source footage to the cloud for analysis — a requirement that has left archives largely unsearched at organizations handling sensitive, unreleased, or personally identifiable footage, including broadcasters, entertainment companies, and law firms. Industry estimates put the share of recorded video that goes unused as "dark data" at more than 90%.
To address this, Heimdex built a hybrid on-premise and cloud architecture that extracts only metadata while keeping video files in place on existing storage systems, such as local servers or network-attached storage (NAS). Original footage never leaves the organization's internal network. The platform supports natural-language scene search, automated short-form re-editing, and automatic blurring of faces and personal information.
Heimdex has supplied its solution to broadcasters, production companies, multi-channel networks (MCNs), and live commerce operators, building a track record that helped it secure early-stage investment from Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance and venture capital firm Antler. The company has also been selected for "N-Up 2026," a global collaboration program run jointly by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and NVIDIA; the ministry's Stepping Stone technology development program for startups; and a startup competition hosted by Yonsei University.
"Video becomes a liability the moment it's uploaded, creating a paradox where organizations with the most footage were the least able to use AI," said Kang Hee-jo, Chief Strategy Officer at Heimdex. "We plan to continue developing searchable video AI that doesn't require moving original footage, based in Gwangju — a city officially designated as Korea's Asian Culture Hub City, where content assets continue to accumulate."
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