SkyLabs and Chong Kun Dang are initiating sales of ring-type heart monitoring device CART-I for the mass market starting December, SkyLabs announced on Nov. 23.

Chong Kun Dang has paid SkyLabs 2.5 billion won ($2.2 million) to SkyLabs for the rights to business-to-consumer sales of the CART-I cardio tracker in Korea.

CART-1 (SkyLabs)

Chong Kun Dang will also have priority negotiation rights for exports to Japan, China, India and the Middle East. In turn, it will provide SkyLabs with a base for further technology research and novel product development.

Combined with the Chong Kun Dang deal, SkyLabs has to this date accumulated an investment of roughly 12 billion won. 



SkyLabs is a health care startup established in 2015. Its CEO Lee Byung-hwan left his previous work as a Samsung Electronics engineer to start the atrial fibrillation monitoring device company after experiencing symptoms himself.

Lee’s brainchild CART is a ring that can monitor arrhythmic heart beats for up to 24 hours on a single charge using a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor. 

SkyLabs CEO Lee Byung-hwan (left) and Chong Kun Dang CEO Kim Young-joo strike a deal for CART domestic sales right at Chong Kun Dang headquarters in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, on Nov. 20.(SkyLabs)

The measured data is accessible for patients via a smartphone app, and can be used by the hospitals to advise their registered patients to come in for a consultation.

The device is light, waterproof and supports a number of ring sizes.

CART has obtained the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s certification for medical device and the CE mark in Europe.

In clinical studies, CART detected irregular heartbeats 99 percent of the time, SkyLabs said.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)