Lablup 拟 11 月 3 日 KOSDAQ 上市：2025 年营收 67 亿韩元，寻求最高 3200 亿韩元估值

Lablup Seeks 320 Billion Won Valuation on 6.7 Billion Won in Revenue

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Lablup CEO Shin Jung-kyu explains the company and its technologies at an IPO briefing on Oct. 19. (Photo: Lablup)

Lablup presents its corporate customers, including Samsung, LG Electronics, KT Cloud, Shinhan Bank, Korean Air and the Republic of Korea Navy. (Source: Lablup; Photo: THE ELEC)

Artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure software company Lablup is drawing attention for its valuation methodology ahead of its planned stock market debut on Nov. 3. Despite generating just 6.7 billion won in revenue in 2025, the company is seeking a post-listing valuation of up to 320 billion won.

Lablup said it calculated its valuation by discounting projected 2029 net profit to present value, raising questions about whether its forecasts are overly optimistic. The company also aims to increase revenue 8.6-fold over the next four years.

Lablup held an initial public offering (IPO) briefing at the Conrad Seoul hotel in Yeouido on Oct. 19, outlining its KOSDAQ listing plans and growth strategy. The proposed offering price ranges from 19,000 won to 22,000 won per share, implying a post-listing market capitalization of 276.3 billion won to 320 billion won.

Lablup reported revenue of 6.7 billion won and operating profit of approximately 600 million won in 2025, alongside a net loss of 1.5 billion won.

The company forecasts revenue of 9.9 billion won in 2026, followed by 22.1 billion won in 2027, 37.8 billion won in 2028 and 57.8 billion won in 2029.

To calculate its valuation, Lablup used estimated 2029 net profit of 21.1 billion won, discounted at an annual rate of 15% to a present value of 12.9 billion won.

It then applied an average price-to-earnings ratio (PER) of 33.6 times, based on three comparable companies — Wisenut, Suresofttech and US-based Nutanix — to derive an assessed value of 29,555 won per share. The proposed offering price was determined after applying an IPO discount.

Lablup said its 2029 earnings projections combine expected growth in existing license revenue with sales from new customers.

“Our revenue forecasts are not based on applying a market share assumption to the total addressable market, but on the revenue growth trends of existing customers,” Lablup CEO Shin Jung-kyu said.

Shin added that overseas revenue projections were based on estimates of future customer demand provided by local reseller partners.

To support its growth assumptions, Lablup cited an average net revenue retention (NRR) rate of 131.9% over the past two years. NRR measures changes in revenue generated from existing customers, excluding new customer acquisitions.

At the briefing, Lablup also identified 163 global neocloud companies as potential customers. Neocloud providers offer businesses cloud computing resources centered on graphics processing units (GPUs) for AI workloads.

The company plans to acquire customers through local resellers in markets including the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore.

Lablup highlighted its proprietary AI infrastructure management software as its key competitive advantage.

Its flagship product, Backend.AI, is an integrated platform supporting AI accelerator resource management, including GPUs and neural processing units (NPUs), as well as AI model development, training, inference and service operations.

Shin compared the platform to Microsoft’s Windows operating system, explaining that it performs a similar role by enabling various programs to run on hardware from different manufacturers.

According to Lablup, Backend.AI has been deployed at more than 120 sites in South Korea and overseas.

Lablup plans to allocate half of its IPO proceeds to acquiring hardware for technology validation. The company intends to secure various AI accelerators to evaluate model training, token generation and operational efficiency.

The remaining proceeds will be used for overseas expansion, with business activities focused on local operations in the United States and Japan.

Lablup is scheduled to list on the KOSDAQ market on Nov. 3.

kimsungjin harang@thelec.kr

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