Neurojourney, a startup founded at the Sangmyung University Research Center of Emotion Contents Technology, is developing multimodal emotion AI technology integrating video processing, bio-signal analysis, cognitive psychology, and user experience research that analyzes human emotions. Its solution uses video footage to simultaneously analyze facial expressions, heart rate responses, voice, and various other signals, and then provides data-based ‘true customer reactions’ to a company’s services or content. Neurojourney was founded in April 2025 by CEO Hyunwoo Lee (34).
“Our core offering is a customer reaction evaluation solution based on emotion AI. When a company has content or a service that it wants evaluated, it uploads it or provides a link on the Neurojourney platform, and research is conducted through a secured tester group. The testers’ emotional reactions are automatically collected via webcam, and the AI analyzes these and produces quantitative metrics for immersion, stress, empathy, self-efficacy, and more. So companies are provided with more in-depth data than a simple survey, and this allows them to understand the true reactions of their customers.”
Neurojourney has three main competitive advantages. First, its technology is rooted in data analysis expertise and long-term experience in affective engineering research at the Sangmyung University Research Center of Emotion Contents Technology. Second is its multimodal emotion AI. In the global market, only a handful of companies have advanced such an AI model, which simultaneously analyzes the face, heart, and voice, to the commercialization stage. Third is scalability in the market. Customer reactions have applications not only in UX design, but also in marketing research, games, education, digital healthcare, and various other industries.
In its initial marketing approach, Neurojourney is pursuing a PoC-based market entry strategy for each industry. Neurojourney is currently collaborating with companies in the UX research, media, and edu-tech sectors to create success cases, and plans to introduce its solution to game, CRM, and healthcare companies next year.
From a marketing perspective, it is focusing on B2B sales and targeting corporate customers, while at the same time preparing to expand abroad through global partnership networking and presentations at local and international academic conferences. The company’s current operating funds come from government support projects, technology guarantees, and sales, and it plans to attract seed investment next year. Following this, the company plans to acquire TIPS funding based on its R&D expertise, and then use this to expand globally and improve its technology.
What made CEO Lee decide to start a new company? “Before this, I was a researcher studying video processing, bioengineering, and affective engineering. In fact, I majored in affective engineering for my PhD. But beyond simple academic curiosity, I became convinced that human emotions would be at the core of future technology. Actually, while I was doing research at the university, many companies requested consulting on emotions. This confirmed for me that there is a huge demand for emotional data in industry. Based on this experience, I began to think, ‘I don’t need to stop at researching emotions. I can create real value in the industrial world.’ In particular, if I could show customers’ true reactions using data, it would change corporate decision-making drastically. This realization is what led me to start the company. I prepared the initial funding through the Pre-Startup Package and technology guarantees, and this was enough to develop the prototype.”
Following the launch of the startup, said CEO Lee, “I felt the most rewarded when an actual corporate customer gave us feedback through the platform, saying, ‘This is the first time I’ve seen the true reactions of my customers,’” and added, “As the founder, I was most motivated the moment when our technology moved out of the affective engineering lab and began to create real value in the market.”
Including CEO Lee, Neurojourney has three employees. CEO Lee, the engineer who personally developed the core emotion AI technology, manages the company, and is joined by a product manager and a marketer. Professor Mincheol Hwang of Sangmyung University provides technical advise. With just a small group of elite experts, the company is able to execute tasks rapidly.
Regarding future plans, CEO Lee said, “In the short term, we aim to secure reference in the UX research, marketing, and game sectors,” and added, “In the mid- to long-term, we will grow Neurojourney into a global emotion AI SaaS company and set new standards based on emotional data.”
“Ultimately, our goal is to establish an R&D base in Silicon Valley and grow into a successful company in the global market.”
Date of Establishment: April 2025
Main Business: A customer reaction evaluation solution based on emotion AI
Performance: Registered six patents and applied for one, selected for the Dongguk University Pre-Startup Package, tenant company at SNU Campus Town
reporter jinho lee
jinho2323@hankyung.com