September’s newcomers span robot automation, synthetic voices, digital medical devices and consumer brands. Several have posted triple-digit debut gains, although sharp subsequent pullbacks suggest investors are still more willing to chase a new listing than hold it.
For investors, the expanding pipeline offers more ways to buy into emerging industries. The challenge is determining which companies can turn a promising theme into a durable business.
An early-September estimate by Eugene Investment & Securities put the number of KOSDAQ debuts expected during the month at eight to 11, up from six in August and a sharp pickup from the first half with just 17 IPOs - one on the KOSPI and 16 on the KOSDAQ.
Excluding special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, the first-half total was down 55.3 percent from 38 a year earlier, according to the Korea Exchange.
Proceeds fell 48.7 percent to 1.13 trillion won, while the combined market capitalization of new listings dropped 47.5 percent to 7.36 trillion won.
KRX data show that 31 companies had completed regular new listings on the KOSDAQ as of Tuesday, compared with 69 for all of 2025, 70 in 2024 and 77 in 2023. Another 12 SPACs had listed this year.
New debutants on Tuesday illustrated both the appetite for new technology stocks and the difficulty of judging demand before trading begins.
Bigwave Robotics, which operates a platform connecting companies with robot-automation providers, rose more than 200 percent shortly after the opening from its 18,000 won IPO price.
The company offers exposure to the adoption of robots across businesses through a platform linking customers with automation suppliers.
Bigwave attracted institutional demand of 1,109.37 to 1 and priced at the top of its proposed range. Retail demand reached 1,375.34 to 1, drawing about 4.95 trillion won in subscription deposits.
Fabless semiconductor company Global Technologies also rallied, rising 175 percent to 27,500 won during Tuesday’s trading despite much weaker pre-listing demand.
Its institutional bookbuilding ratio was 123.19 to 1 and retail subscription ratio 57.15 to 1. It priced its offering at 10,000 won, below its proposed range of 13,000 won to 15,000 won.
The contrasting offerings produced similarly strong initial responses, suggesting that subscription demand alone offered little guidance on debut performance.
AI has also drawn buyers.
Neosapience, which operates Typecast, a platform for synthetic voice and video content, surged 243 percent to 34,300 won on its Sept. 21 debut. The rally followed an IPO priced at 10,000 won, well below the initial range of 13,800 won to 15,800 won.
But by midmorning Tuesday, its shares were trading at 17,380 won. Investors who received shares at the offer price were still up 73.8 percent; those who bought at the first-day close had lost nearly half their investment.
Kim Dae-jong, an economics professor at Sejong University, said investor sentiment toward KOSDAQ IPOs has recovered to some extent in September after many August listings fell below their offer prices.
He attributed the improvement partly to stronger trading activity and liquidity across the KOSPI and KOSDAQ, which have helped draw money into new listings, as well as growing investor interest in AI, robotics and biotech.
“Funds are flowing into IPOs as overall market liquidity improves, while investor interest in growth industries such as AI, robotics and biotech has also increased,” Kim said.
Biotech and medical devices offer another route
Healthcare listings offer exposure to businesses ranging from antibody drug development to digital monitoring devices, with markedly different commercial prospects and risks.
Sky Labs, a maker of cuffless blood-pressure monitoring devices, closed its Sept. 4 debut at 23,500 won, 135 percent above its 10,000 won IPO price, despite an institutional bookbuilding ratio of just 63.41 to 1.
Its shares were still 86.8 percent above the offer price on Tuesday, although below their first-day close.
Ingenia Therapeutics, which develops antibody-based treatments, stood out among August’s listings. It was the only one of six regular KOSDAQ newcomers that month trading above its IPO price as of Tuesday morning, according to AJP calculations based on KRX data.
The other five showed that exposure to a growth industry does not necessarily translate into shareholder returns.
Autonomous-drone developer Nearthlab attracted retail demand of 530 to 1 and priced at the top of its proposed range, only to fall 30.46 percent on its Aug. 24 debut. It remained below its offer price on Tuesday.
KNS, which makes satellite communication antennas for military and maritime use, drew institutional demand of 938.24 to 1 and retail demand of 1,079.55 to 1. After closing its first session 39.82 percent higher, it had fallen below its 11,000 won IPO price by Tuesday.
Magnetic sensor chipmaker Haechitech was roughly 47 percent below its offer price. Fashion business-to-business platform operator Dealicious and outdoor and motorcycle protective apparel maker KIDO Industrial were down about 57 percent and 56 percent, respectively.
Consumer brands join the rally — and the retreat
Non-tech newcomers were also welcomed.
Wiseplanet Company, which operates consumer brands including Dr.Piel, NUZAM and IRENOL, jumped 285.83 percent on its Sept. 23 debut, closing at 46,300 won against an offer price of 12,000 won.
Its retail offering attracted 3.55 trillion won in deposits and was 1,477.65 times subscribed, while institutional demand reached 1,248 to 1.
By Tuesday morning, however, the stock had fallen to 23,800 won. It remained 98.3 percent above its IPO price but was about 49 percent below its debut close.
The distinction matters for investors as a successful offering for those allocated shares can still prove costly for buyers who enter after the initial surge.
Kim said the rapid pullbacks after strong debuts reflect a typical supply-demand dynamic in newly listed shares. Limited tradable shares can concentrate investor demand immediately after listing, pushing prices sharply higher before profit-taking increases volatility.
“A sharp first-day gain should not be taken as a sustained increase in corporate value,” Kim said, pointing to the subsequent declines in Wiseplanet Company and Neosapience from their debut-day closes.
Woo Seok-jin, an economics professor at Myongji University, said sharp reversals can also point to weaknesses in IPO pricing.
“That usually means the shares were not priced properly,” Woo said. “They jump at first because investors rush in, but once they take a closer look and reassess the company’s value, they pull back.”
He cautioned against treating the debut rallies as evidence of a broad recovery.
“Some investors are simply trying to capture the initial pop,” he said. “That kind of short-term trading does not necessarily mean sentiment has broadly improved across KOSDAQ.”
The broader index closed just 0.31 percent higher at 849.21 on Tuesday after opening 0.32 percent lower.
The next test: defense, robotics and AI infrastructure
The upcoming pipeline will give investors more choices across several technology themes.
Duksan Navcours, a defense technology company developing satellite navigation and anti-jamming systems, is scheduled to debut on Sept. 30 after pricing at the top of its range.
Robotics company Brills is due to follow on Oct. 1. Elice Group, which provides AI infrastructure including GPU cloud services, is conducting institutional bookbuilding ahead of a planned October listing.
Kim said the performance of newly listed companies is likely to become increasingly differentiated according to their earnings and growth prospects rather than simply the industries they belong to.
“Even in high-growth areas such as AI, robotics and biotech, what matters is whether actual revenue and earnings can support that growth,” he said. “Going forward, share prices are likely to be driven more by earnings and corporate value than by themes.”
More broadly, the range of businesses broadens the investment menu, but Woo said the market’s longer-term appeal depends on the quality of companies entering and remaining on the exchange.
“IPOs are important because they provide growth companies with access to capital,” he said.
“But in Korea, there are still doubts about whether some technology startups have strong enough fundamentals,” he added. “Some make it all the way to an IPO, but investors later find that the business is weaker than they expected.”
He called for stricter removal of companies that fail to maintain listing standards, arguing that a cleaner market would help stronger businesses raise capital.
As of Sept. 25, eight companies had received delisting decisions over the previous three months for failing to meet market-capitalization requirements, according to KRX data.
“A number of reform measures have been announced, and if it becomes easier to remove companies that no longer meet listing standards, the market could improve,” Woo said.
September has widened the choice of IPO themes and revived debut-day demand. Whether those gains endure will depend on what the newly listed businesses deliver after the opening excitement fades.
AJP Takeaways
- Entry prices matter: Neosapience and Wiseplanet remained well above their offer prices on Tuesday morning but had lost nearly half their value from their debut closes.
- Themes need earnings support: Strong subscriptions and debut rallies offer limited assurance of lasting returns. Business fundamentals and valuations remain the bigger test.
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