Upstage, one of Korea’s leading generative Artificial Intelligence startups, has initiated formal preparations for an initial public offering and launched a USD 300 million (KRW 430 billion) pre-IPO round as it pursues a valuation in the trillion-won range. The company distributed requests for proposal to major securities firms, including Korea Investment & Securities, NH Investment & Securities, and Mirae Asset Securities, and plans to finalize underwriter selection within 2025. Upstage expects to submit a preliminary IPO application in the second half of 2026 and complete the listing within that year. The firm was valued at KRW 790 billion in its August funding round, and market analysts project a post-IPO valuation of KRW 2-3 trillion given heightened domestic investor sentiment. An investor familiar with the deal described the target as “ambitious but realistic, given Korea’s strong market momentum and the global appetite for AI growth stories.”
The pre-IPO strategy targets global institutional investors and seeks to strengthen Upstage’s balance sheet ahead of listing. The company reportedly aims for a USD 900 million (KRW 1.3 trillion) valuation in the pre-IPO round, more than twice its previous capital raised to date. Management intends to use new capital to scale global Artificial Intelligence infrastructure and accelerate commercialization of its flagship large language model platform. Upstage’s Solar Pro 2 model, with 31 billion parameters, was ranked among the top 10 frontier models globally by benchmark organization Artificial Analysis and was the only Korean model to make that list in 2025.
The planned listing has broader implications for Korea’s deep-tech capital environment and innovation policy. Despite strong government backing for an “AI transformation” and the Deep-Tech 1000 Initiative, institutional investors still face relatively limited exit channels compared with U.S. or Japanese markets. Observers say Upstage’s IPO could become a litmus test for whether domestic capital markets can fund and retain frontier-tech companies. The recent KOSDAQ debut of Nota Inc., which saw market capitalization climb from KRW 192.5 billion at IPO to KRW 1 trillion within three trading days, underscores strong investor appetite for Artificial Intelligence stories and raises expectations for Upstage’s market reception.
Upstage’s investor base and strategic moves also highlight corporate and policy challenges. Backers include SoftBank Ventures Asia, Company K Partners, Korea Development Bank, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Premier Partners, InterVest, and SK Networks, reflecting rising corporate interest in frontier Artificial Intelligence. Venture analysts view the dual approach of raising a large pre-IPO round while preparing for a domestic listing as both an economic signal and a test for policy frameworks such as corporate venture capital rules, cross-border investment incentives, and exit pathway reforms. A Seoul-based VC executive said, “Upstage’s listing could redefine the scale of Korea’s AI economy. If successful, it would demonstrate that domestic capital markets are finally capable of supporting globally competitive AI firms rather than pushing them to list overseas.”
