ASAP Express lands US$1.26M in deep tech grant to build trade-compliance AI
What's the deal? ASAP ExpressDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a South Korean trade RegTech startup, has been selected for the Ministry of SMEs and StartupsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →' Deep Tech TIPSDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → program. The support award grants up to US$1.26M (roughly $1,053,630) in research and development funding over three years.
Who backed it? The company was picked on the recommendation of Seoul Techno HoldingsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, which nominated it to the government program run by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.
What's the endgame? The funded project is a "multi-country trade regulation autonomous judgment AI Agent." The system aims to interpret different countries' regulatory documents, determine HS codes and licensing requirements on its own, and then self-verify those results.
ASAP Express built its base from global special logistics work, structuring repetitive trade tasks such as country-specific regulation checks, customs procedures, and certifications. In April 2026 it launched an AI trade compliance service called ASAP C (Compliance AI).
Why now? Shifting global tariffs and trade rules are raising customs risk for exporters and importers. Yet much of the compliance work still relies on manual review by specialists, a gap the company wants to close with automation.
What's next? ASAP Express is raising a pre-Series A round alongside the grant. It plans to spend the proceeds on advancing the AI agent and expanding into global markets.
"This selection is recognition of our technical approach to the difficult problem of judging trade regulations," said chief executive officer Ahn Yong-jin, adding the company will "accelerate expansion into global markets."
The signal: The award ranks among the largest of its kind — at roughly the 99th percentile of all-time support program rounds for transportation startups in South Korea, across 276 comparable deals. It points to state backing flowing toward applied AI that automates specialist knowledge work rather than broad research bets.
Read more: VentureSquare
Image credit: infomatique
