The competitiveness of regional AI companies depends not on their technology itself, but on their ability to apply it to real-world industries, generating profits and expanding the ecosystem. Nota's selection is significant because it demonstrates how regional technology companies can integrate R&D, commercialization, and application in public and industrial settings into a single growth path.

Nota announced on March 11th that it had been selected for the "Next-Generation Digital Leading Company Development Project," promoted by the Daejeon Metropolitan City and the Daejeon Information & Culture Industry Promotion Agency, for the third consecutive year. This project operates through a phased, narrowed selection process for regional digital companies with global competitiveness. Nota was selected as one of eight companies selected in 2024, five companies selected in 2025, and three companies selected in 2026.

At the heart of the evaluation were AI model optimization and lightweighting technology, as well as the automated platform "Netpresso." This platform is designed to compress, optimize, and deploy AI models tailored to hardware requirements. Its key goal is to reduce model size by up to 90% while maintaining accuracy. Accordingly, the platform is expanding its application scope to enhance its operability in limited device environments, such as on-device AI and physical AI.

Scalability is also noteworthy. Nota recently signed a technology supply agreement with Samsung Electronics for the Exynos 2600 and Furiosa AI Renegade, securing the applicability of optimized technologies across both global and domestic AI semiconductor environments. Nota's ability to address diverse computing environments, rather than being limited to a specific chipset, is seen as a design competitive advantage.

Industrial application cases also supported the evaluation. "Nota Vision Agent," a vision-language model-based video control solution, performs situational awareness and anomaly detection through real-time video analysis, securing commercial applications in manufacturing and industrial safety. This demonstrates that the solution has moved beyond a technology demonstration to a solution usable in operational environments.

Founded in Daejeon in 2015 by researchers from KAIST, Nota has maintained its headquarters and expanded its R&D workforce and regional collaborations. It has also participated in the construction of ITS in Daejeon and public infrastructure projects. CEO Chae Myung-soo stated that the company has grown by applying technologies developed in Daejeon to real-world industrial settings, and that he plans to expand its competitiveness in domestic and international markets based on AI-optimized technology that can be implemented in device environments.

This selection demonstrates a shift in the evaluation criteria for regional AI companies from mere technological prowess to practical applicability and industrial connectivity. It also serves as a testament to whether local startups can expand into the semiconductor, public infrastructure, and manufacturing safety sectors.