This article was posted on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 6:03 p.m. on Oct. 21, 2025.
Venture capital (VC) Mirae Asset Venture Investment is on the verge of a big exit from Semifive, a semiconductor design specialist. Semifive, which was valued at 30 billion won when Mirae Asset Venture Investment first invested in 2019, recently pursued a KOSDAQ listing with a valuation of more than 800 billion won.
On the 21st, sources in the financial investment industry said Semifive recently submitted a securities registration statement to the Financial Services Commission (FSC), formally beginning the KOSDAQ listing and public offering process. It has been about three months since it filed for preliminary review with the Korea Exchange (KRX) in July, and it aims to list within the year. Samsung Securities and UBS Securities are managing the listing.
Semifive plans to issue all 5.4 million shares as new shares, bringing the total listed shares to 33,716,419. The expected offering price range (band) was set at 21,000 to 24,000 won. The planned offering amount is 113.4 billion won to 129.6 billion won, and the post-listing market capitalization is estimated at about 809.2 billion won based on the top of the band.
Semifive, founded in 2019 by CEO Jo Myung-hyun, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is considered a leading semiconductor design house in Korea. Using its own design platform, it has secured technology that can shorten semiconductor design time by more than 60%, and it is listed as a Samsung Electronics design solution partner (DSP).
In March 2023, Semifive drew attention after raising fresh series B investments from financial investors (FI) including Shinhan Investment Corp., SV Investment and Korea Investment Partners. At that time, Doosan also joined as a strategic investor (SI), valuing the company at 500 billion won.
Mirae Asset Venture Investment is seen as the investor most likely to achieve the largest gains from Semifive's listing. Since its first investment round in June 2019, it invested 900 million won from its proprietary account (PI) and continued follow-on investments, becoming the second-largest shareholder after the largest shareholder, SiFive.
According to Semifive's securities registration statement, Mirae Asset Venture Investment invested a total of 36.3 billion won and held 11.93% of Semifive's equity. The Mirae Asset Next Revolution Investment Fund alone held more than 3.5% equity. In addition, five venture investment funds, including the Mirae Asset Next Korea Intelligent Information Investment Fund, were used for the investment.
If Semifive lists with a valuation of 809.2 billion won, it is expected that Mirae Asset Venture Investment will realize at least a double return. Based on the top of the band, the valuation of Mirae Asset Venture Investment's stake in Semifive already exceeds 81 billion won. Mirae Asset Venture Investment's investment price in Semifive was about 10,800 won per share.
In particular, PI funds that invested at 3,100 won per share at the seed stage in 2019 are expected to yield more than 24 times returns after listing. In June 2019, it participated in the seed investment round and invested about 900 million won at around 3,100 won per share; at that time Semifive's corporate value was understood to be 33.5 billion won.
A source in the VC industry said, "Semifive is the first listed AI company in which Mirae Asset Venture Investment has invested, and thanks to a recovery in the semiconductor industry, a large-scale return of investment is expected," adding, "Semifive's exit performance is likely to have a positive impact on Mirae Asset Venture Investment's results this year."