Busan Startups Gear Up for IPO Rush as 30 Firms Prepare Listings

*Editor's Note: 'AI PRISM' (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an 'AI-based personalized news recommendation and summary service' developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It curates and provides six customized news items tailored to each reader type.

1. Beyond the 'Death Valley'...Busan Startups Open the Floodgates for IPOs

- Key Summary: About 30 Busan-based startups are preparing to list across diverse industries including senior care, logistics technology, e-commerce, and biotech. Flagship example Caredoc has selected Korea Investment & Securities as its lead underwriter based on cumulative transactions of 300 billion won and service provision to more than 10,000 people monthly, and is pursuing more than 20 billion won in pre-IPO investment. Locus Korea, an AI-based logistics OS company, continues high growth of 158% on an annual average and targets a 2029 listing, while Socialbean and Medpark are also in the IPO queue. Busan City and the Busan Center for Creative Economy and Innovation are building a full-cycle support system that enables startups to enter the capital market through budget expansion, regulatory easing, and close-knit incubation systems.

2. KB Securities' 'AI-Based Asset Management' Pays Off...Retail Operating Profit Surges 130%

- Key Summary: KB Securities' total retail operating profit in the WM (wealth management) division reached 51 billion won in the first quarter of this year, surging more than 130% from 21.8 billion won in the same period a year earlier. The 'AI Investment Briefing' service, operated primarily on the mobile investment platform 'M-able,' summarizes and provides market conditions and stock information in real time, surpassing 10 million cumulative views within four months of launch. KB Securities plans to additionally launch in June a portfolio analysis service that integrates and analyzes news, disclosures, exchange rates, and financial data based on customers' holdings. In parallel, the firm is expanding its AX (AI transformation) system company-wide by automating various tasks including document processing, legal review, and internal knowledge search through its internal AI agent 'Kkaebi AI.'

3. Kakao (035720) Expands KakaoTalk Ad Reach from U.S. to Japan and Vietnam

- Key Summary: Kakao is preparing a service expansion that adds the B2B business solution 'Kakao Sync' to its existing message and display advertising, marking the first anniversary of its North American KakaoTalk advertising service launch. The number of North American KakaoTalk users has reached about 1.7 million, and this year Kakao plans to officially launch its advertising service in Japan, where users exceed 1 million, before gradually expanding to Vietnam and other Asian regions. However, global monthly active users (MAU) excluding Korea stand at about 5 million, only 10% of the domestic level, leaving user base expansion as a challenge. Since failing to achieve its 2022 'Beyond Korea' vision of raising overseas sales to 30%, Kakao has been carrying out intensive business restructuring centered on the KakaoTalk platform.

4. GPT Available on AWS and Google Cloud...MS Chooses Pragmatism Over Exclusivity

- Key Summary: MS and OpenAI agreed to convert their existing exclusive supply agreement into a non-exclusive license, making GPT-based enterprise services available on AWS and Google Cloud. MS agreed to lift the exclusivity on condition that OpenAI not pay it a share of OpenAI model sales revenue generated on Azure through 2030, while OpenAI will still launch new products first on Azure. AWS CEO Andy Jassy said, "Within a few weeks, OpenAI models will be available on Bedrock (AWS's AI model platform)." MS, which has been investing in OpenAI since 2019, became the second-largest shareholder with a 27% stake when OpenAI restructured as a public benefit corporation (PBC) last October.

5. China Takes Hard Line, 'Blocking' Meta's Manus Acquisition

- Key Summary: The Foreign Investment Security Review Office under the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China issued a decision banning foreign capital from acquiring Manus. The deal, under which Meta agreed last December to acquire Manus for $2 billion (about 2.95 trillion won), has effectively collapsed, and Meta began procedures to scrap the acquisition after the NDRC decision. Manus, founded in 2022, is the company that developed the world's first general-purpose AI agent. Chinese authorities began a security review in January this year, right after the acquisition announcement, and imposed exit bans on Manus executives. Bloomberg compared the situation to that of Didi Chuxing, the 'Chinese Uber' that was blocked from listing on the New York Stock Exchange by Chinese authorities in 2021.

6. Cosmo Robotics Secures 6 Trillion Won in Subscription Deposits...KOSDAQ Debut on Nov. 11

- Key Summary: Wearable robot specialist Cosmo Robotics drew 6.3 trillion won in subscription deposits in its retail IPO subscription, recording a final competition ratio of about 2,015 to 1. The number of subscribers reached 460,000, and in the preceding institutional bookbuilding, 2,257 institutions participated with a competition ratio of 1,140 to 1, setting the offering price at 6,000 won, the top of the indicative band. Cosmo Robotics holds a wearable robot portfolio spanning all age groups from infants to the elderly, and operates overseas subsidiaries in five countries including the United States, Japan, Russia, Europe, and China. Based on its KOSDAQ listing on Nov. 11, the company plans to accelerate its expansion of global wearable robot market share through cooperation with local partners in 13 countries.