The frozen initial public offering (IPO) market is heating up again. Domestically, after overcoming sluggishness last month, up to 11 companies are expected to list on the stock market in September, with large unicorn firms such as Musinsa and Megazone Cloud also accelerating their preparations for listing. In the U.S., as the Labor Day holiday ended, artificial intelligence (AI) companies including Anthropic began knocking on the door of the year-end IPO market. Despite market volatility and geopolitical instability, investor risk appetite is reviving, particularly in growth industries like AI and robotics, leading global IPO markets to simultaneously stretch.
According to the financial investment industry on the 10th, the estimated public offering amount for domestic listings this month is 400 billion–450 billion Korean won, with the expected market capitalization of listed companies reaching up to 2.7 trillion Korean won. This significantly exceeds the average market capitalization of 1.0873 trillion Korean won for September listings between 1999–2025 and is also higher than the recent five-year average of 2.4152 trillion Korean won.
This month alone, 8–11 companies, including Neosapience, Brils, and Wise Planet Company, are pushing for new listings. Considering that only one company listed in September last year and just six in the previous month, the supply of IPOs is notably increasing.
◇Overcoming August’s ‘Worst IPO Market’ and Bouncing Back in September
Last month’s IPO market was the most sluggish of the year. Only six companies went public, with a total offering amount of 210.6 billion Korean won—about one-third of the historical August average of 595.8 billion Korean won. Park Jong-seon, a researcher at Eugene Investment & Securities, said, “August’s IPO market proceeded without any large-scale listings, resulting in historically low levels for both return rates and competition ratios.”
The atmosphere has shifted in September. Notably, companies in sectors attracting high investor interest, such as AI and robotics, are lining up for listings. The largest upcoming listing this month is Elice Group, an AI coding education platform, with a public offering amount of 156.4 billion Korean won.
Bigwave Robotics, a robotics company, will finalize its public offering price by the 11th after conducting institutional investor demand forecasting and proceed with listing procedures. Neosapience, which holds AI voice and content generation technology, completed institutional demand forecasting last week and will accept applications from retail investors on the 10th–11th.
Lablup, an AI infrastructure software company, follows suit. It aims to list in October after conducting institutional demand forecasting from the 28th to the 2nd of next month.
The increase in the number of listings, coupled with sectors aligned with recent market leaders, is positively impacting investor sentiment. AI and robotics companies, which have driven the domestic market this year, are expected to attract investor attention in the IPO market as well.
Market interest is already shifting from small- and mid-sized IPOs to “large whales.”
Representative large unicorns, including Musinsa, Megazone Cloud, and AI semiconductor company Rebellions, are pushing for listings by the end of this year or early next year. Wrtn, a generative AI company valued at 1 trillion Korean won, recently selected underwriters and began IPO preparations.
If these companies list, significant capital could flow into the domestic IPO market, which has been stagnant due to the absence of large-scale offerings in recent years.
Kang Young-hoon, a researcher at Samsung Securities, said, “Companies in industries with high retail investor interest, such as robotics and AI, and those pursuing large-scale offerings are waiting in the wings. However, as the number of listings increases, selective investment considering companies’ financial status, growth potential, and valuations is necessary.”
◇“Surpassing SpaceX”… Anthropic and OpenAI Signal Mega IPOs
The trend is not limited to South Korea. In the U.S., the IPO market is also moving ahead of the year-end.
Bloomberg reported on the 9th (local time) that companies began a full-scale sprint toward the year-end IPO market as the U.S. Labor Day holiday ended.
The most-watched company is generative AI startup Anthropic. Other major candidates include Nscale, a British neocloud provider; Aggreko, a power supply company; and Oura Health, a consumer medical technology manufacturer. The commonality is their presence in industries rapidly growing in the AI era. Beyond AI models themselves, data centers, power, cooling systems, and other infrastructure industries required to operate them are quickly becoming IPO investment targets. Ajay Shah, head of Deutsche Bank’s technology investment banking division, told Bloomberg, “There are numerous AI sectors that can attract investors, including data centers, power and cooling systems, and consumer healthcare.”
If Anthropic’s listing materializes, it could reshape the global IPO market. Anthropic is reportedly aiming for a mega IPO surpassing SpaceX’s record of $86 billion (approximately 115 trillion Korean won). The market also expects Anthropic’s corporate value to be evaluated at up to $2 trillion in the long term. OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, is also likely to pursue an IPO this year or next. If realized, it could become one of the largest IPOs in history.
The environment surrounding the IPO market is not entirely favorable. Rising international oil prices, wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, inflation concerns, and potential interest rate hikes could pressure the valuations of growth stocks. Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, an IPO research firm, said, “Investors were willing to grant SpaceX such a high valuation because its future profits would materialize years later. While there are concerns that recent mega-tech IPO valuations are excessively high, creating bubbles, I believe Anthropic can justify its valuation, estimated at $2 trillion.”
- 월 5900원 멤버십, 신문 독자에게는 2900원, 조선멤버십
- 55000원 상당의 신문-잡지 8종 마음껏 보기, 조선멤버십
- 현금처럼 쓸 7000포인트 받아 알뜰한 쇼핑, 조선멤버십
Related posts:
Japan’s protest over Russian soldier statue aggravates ‘summer of tension’
Nepal announces ‘scholarship bank’ for children orphaned or displaced by floods
Pakistan’s Enduring Commitment to Religious PluralismPublished on: September 10, 2026 4:31 AM
63% reject Yong Hye-in nomination, 47% criticize Kim Seung-won’s