o2h Kickstarter: Korea
A competitive award to turbocharge Korean biotech startups with a chemistry boost, in collaboration with CELLTRION
Key highlights
8+
Editions across the globe
40+
Awards provided so far
$7.2M+
Invested in resources
Overview
The o2h Kickstarter is a competitive program designed for early-stage, small molecule-focused biotechnology companies that have secured initial funding and are ready to push their chemistry to the next scientific milestone. Winners of this competition receive a dedicated team of expert chemists and end-to-end project management support, giving them the boost to generate meaningful chemical matter, hit critical scientific milestones, and reach their next funding goal faster than they could alone.
For the latest Korea Edition, we are pleased to collaborate with Celltrion, one of Korea’s leading biopharmaceutical companies, to bring the Kickstarter to its rapidly evolving life science ecosystem. This collaboration extends beyond chemistry execution. By combining o2h’s drug discovery expertise and global CRO capabilities with Celltrion’s open innovation initiatives, industry networks, and strong presence within Korea’s biotech investment landscape, the program is designed to support high-potential startups from early discovery through to strategic growth.
Benefits
The winners of the o2h Kickstarter: Korea edition receive the full Kickstarter award, plus exclusive benefits through our Celltrion partnership.
Team
A dedicated team of six FTE synthetic chemists of which two are senior and four are junior chemists
Cost & Duration
Six synthetic chemists at a fraction of the usual price for up to six months
Additional Support
Receive 100 complimentary ADME points and save 20% on Biology FTE
Inventory
Access to a large inventory of chemicals and reagents for synthesis
Additional benefits by
Structured Diagnostics
& Mentoring
Tailored company diagnostics and expert mentoring to support technology advancement, including research validation and access to specialist networks across Korea's life science sector
Korean Investor
& VC Network
Structured networking with leading Korean investors and VC firms to connect you with the right capital at the right stage
Open Innovation
Program Access
Potential access to lab and office space through our open innovation programs, plus proof of concept support to accelerate your path to the clinic
Eligibility
The competition is for seed and/or pre-seed stage small molecule-focused biotech companies based in Korea that have secured initial funding from recognized grant bodies or venture/angel investors, have exciting drug targets, and the ability to scale.
Register your interestKickstarter winner’s wall
Winners feedback
More than 80 companies applied from across the globe, and here are some of the companies that made it to the winners' list.
Mathew Gray-Davies
Director
We're delighted to receive o2h's Kickstarter award this year. Our primary mission is developing therapeutics to safely target processes shared by many neurodegenerative diseases as well as chronic cognitive, fatigue, and pain disorders. o2h's support of this mission is truly inspiring, and the expertise of their chemistry and biology teams serves as a vital catalyst for our first two discovery projects.
David Barlow
Chair & CEO
We’re honored to receive o2h’s Kickstarter Award, a meaningful validation of our novel program addressing debilitating symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. Psy's collaboration with o2h's superb chemistry team will further accelerate this high-impact program’s path to the clinic and advance our broader mission to deliver transformative treatments to patients in need.
Dr. Neil Benson
CEO
The kickstarter competition was transformative for Sevenless. We were able to effectively put 10 full time FTEs on our lead optimization program, which delivered novel chemistry ahead of schedule. The progress was outstanding and the o2h team a pleasure to work with. Kickstarter did for us exactly as it’s name suggests. We are now looking to move a drug candidate forward through IND enabling studies and towards Phase I clinical trials.
Eran Seger
Co-founder & CEO
Protai is excited to be partnering with o2h's chemistry in order to accelerate our proteomin biomarker-led drug discoveries and development activities. Protai is excited to be partnering with o2h's chemistry in order to accelerate our proteomin biomarker-led drug discoveries and development activities. Protai is excited to be partnering with o2h's chemistry in order to accelerate our proteomin biomarker-led drug discoveries and development activities. Protai is excited to be partnering with o2h's chemistry in order to accelerate our proteomin biomarker-led drug discoveries and development activities. Protai is excited to be partnering with o2h's chemistry in order to accelerate our proteomin biomarker-led drug discoveries and development activities.
Beth J Hoffman
President & CEO
The Kickstarter will enable us to thoroughly explore our nascent SAR and advance our lead program more rapidly.
Chris Moody
Co-Founder
The o2h Kickstarter competition promises to be an excellent scheme allowing early-stage companies like ours to get access to synthetic chemistry.
Dr Ramsay McFarlane
Co-Founder & CEO
We have been fortunate enough to work with the outstanding o2h Kickstarter team, which has enabled us to move rapidly through our compound screening programme in an exceptionally cost-effective fashion. The O2H team bring great depth of expertise and experience of the pharmaceutical sector, with a strong understanding of our specific needs. The whole O2H team has worked efficiently and diligently, with high quality end results that are enabling us to reach for our long-terms goals to bring new therapeutics to cancer patients.
Dr Nat Hastings
Chief Executive Officer
At Cellestial, our goal is to maximise patient benefit that our treatments can offer. Small molecule therapeutics remain the most scalable form of treatment modality, meaning that more people around the world can benefit from them. We are proud to partner with o2h to expand our pipeline of astrocyte-protective small molecule drugs. The expertise provided both on the conceptual planning stage as well as the synthesis efficiency is world-class.
Jason Rutt
CEO
Running a chemistry program is always a challenging sell to investors. The o2h kickstarter award did several things. It defrayed the cost of the program. It gave us access to a large team of skilled synthetic chemists. It allowed us to partner with experienced medicinal chemists. Finally o2hs review of our proposed program helped validate it and unlock investor funding.
Ana Montalban-Arques
CEO and Co-founder
We are deeply grateful to the o2h Kickstarter program for their invaluable support in advancing our small molecule discovery efforts. This partnership has enabled us to expand our compound portfolio and accelerate the lead optimization phase of our lead program. Support from initiatives like o2h Kickstarter plays a crucial role in helping early-stage biotech companies translate scientific innovation into tangible therapeutic opportunities.
Rory Triniman
CEO/Founder
The Kickstarter Award has been pivotal for our development progress. Medchem can be expensive and challenging for early-stage biotechs, but we are now enjoying the momentum this high-quality chemistry programme brings to our lead optimisation. We had heard good things about the Kickstarter before we applied and I am happy to pass on that positivity from our own experience.
Vid Stojevic
CEO & Co-Founder
The Kickstarter provides vital access to chemists with the skills and knowledge to deliver on the promise of our technology.
Dr Janette A Thomas
CEO
I am thrilled that Five Alarm Bio has been awarded the Kickstarter program. We will benefit from the extensive knowledge and enthusiasm of the o2h leadership and laboratory scientists.
Andrew Rudd
Co-Founder & CEO
The Kickstarter Award allowed us to cost-effectively advance our lead program without sacrificing on quality. The professionalism and productivity of the o2h team was exceptional and I would recommend them to anyone looking for chemistry support.
Gert Kiss
Co-Founder & CEO
o2h’s Kickstarter Award has substantially accelerated our lead-series expansion plans, thanks to a professional team that has been over-delivering on some rather challenging and exciting chemistry.
Elena Brin
Founder & CEO
Receiving the Kickstarter Award has been incredibly energizing for our team. From day one, o2h has exceeded our expectations. They communicate exceptionally well and are very responsive, hardworking, and collaborative, providing detailed regular updates. It's been a genuine pleasure working with them, and we're excited about where this partnership will take our project next.
Adam Yip
Director, Drug Discovery
Ternary Tx were thrilled to receive a Kickstarter award from o2h, enabling us to generate valuable experimental validation of our novel computational platform for the design of molecular glues. The award has substantially accelerated our lead project and the o2h team have been a pleasure to work with, delivering high-quality science, as well as excellent communication throughout.
Senthil K. Perumal
Founder & CEO
We’re honored and deeply grateful to receive the o2h Kickstarter Award. It comes at a pivotal moment for Z Prime, enabling us to advance our drug discovery pipeline and accelerate our lead program toward clinical candidates for patients with limited treatment options. This award helps us turn innovative science into potential therapies and move promising molecules closer to the clinic - and ultimately to patients who urgently need new treatments. Thank you, o2h, for believing in our mission!
About o2h Discovery
o2h Discovery has an insight driven, co-discovery model for fast tracking new ideas to a development candidate, embedded on an AI enabled backbone. We have a multi-modality integrated drug discovery platform that combines novel in-house capabilities with leading strategic partnerships to create a unique workflow. It has over two decades experience in supporting pre clinical biotech and pharma companies across the US, Europe and Asia with ADME, medicinal chemistry, and integrated drug discovery programs.
Know moreAbout Celltrion
Celltrion is a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company dedicated to delivering innovative and affordable medications to improve patients’ access to advanced therapies. Pioneering monoclonal antibody (mAb) biosimilars, built on a legacy of trust, they are advancing antibody-based biologics to address unmet medical needs. Their end-to-end capabilities - from R&D to distribution - ensure efficiency, quality, and innovation at every stage, bringing life-changing therapies to patients worldwide.
Know moreEmpowering early-stage biotech
We launched our first “o2h Kickstarter competition” back in August 2022 exclusively for early-stage biotech to support them boost their drug discovery research. Listen to this exclusive o2h ChaiTime episode where we discuss with some of the previous winners to understand how this competition supported their research and development efforts.
Watch the video