00:02You're listening to AI Prism from Seoul Economic Daily.
00:30In the same week, biotech player Altiojin pulled in $200 billion won, or about $149 million, to build a new
00:39plant and move beyond its royalty-only business.
00:42But also this week, Tving's CEO was apologizing in the National Assembly for a breach that hit close to 40
00:49million accounts, with only four security staffers on payroll.
00:53It's Wednesday, October 7th. Let's look at what this means for startups and entrepreneurs in Korea.
01:00A lease group's debut comes after a stretch of thin IPO activity on COSDAC this year, with no listing clearing
01:07the trillion-one mark until now.
01:09Investor appetite has shifted toward AI infrastructure names with clear GPU and data center build-out plans, not just a
01:17growth story.
01:18At the same time, National Assembly hearings this month are pressing fast-growing platform companies to prove their security spending
01:25kept pace with their growth.
01:26Here's what the numbers show.
01:29A lease group priced its IPO at $90,500 won a share, the top of its range, valuing the company
01:36at roughly $1.005 trillion won, or about $748 million, the first trillion won COSDAC listing this year.
01:45Alteogen raised $200 billion won, or about $149 million, through convertible and redeemable preferred shares to fund a new Dajon
01:55plant and a broader biosimilar pipeline beyond royalty income.
01:59The Tevinge breach exposed close to 40 million accounts this past May, forcing a National Assembly apology and a pledge
02:06to raise security headcount and spending.
02:09The company says it's now moving to a zero-trust security framework.
02:13Police logged 49 semiconductor trade secret leak cases between 2022 and this July, with 19 involving attempted overseas transfers, and
02:24investigators say mid-sized suppliers remain the weakest link in the chain.
02:28So, what does this mean for founders and entrepreneurs in Korea?
02:33Earlier, we said a lease group's listing cleared $1.1 trillion in value.
02:37Here's what that actually means for you.
02:39The exit window for AI infrastructure startups is reopening, and investors are rewarding deployed capacity and signed contracts over pure
02:47growth stories.
02:48Watch three dates, a lease group's retail subscription closes tomorrow, its COSDAC listing lands in late October, and lawmakers say
02:57they'll revisit Tevinge's zero-trust rollout before the company's next earnings call.
03:02If you're scaling fast, put a real budget line next to security, not four people for 26-fold growth.
03:10That's today's AI Prism, Founders.
03:13This episode was produced with AI Assistants based on Seoul Economic Daily reporting and reviewed by a human editor.
03:21AI Prism is a WANIFRA award-winning series.
03:24We'll be back tomorrow.
03:25You've been listening to AI Prism from Seoul Economic Daily.
