This article was published on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 3:12 p.m. on Nov. 25, 2025.
FuriosaAI, regarded as a leading domestic AI Semiconductor company, has put listing on the U.S. Nasdaq as an initial public offering option. It is understood to have recently engaged Morgan Stanley as an adviser and started seeking overseas investment. The Korea Exchange (KRX), which had raised expectations for domestic listings of AI Semiconductor companies, has begun efforts to retain FuriosaAI, but observers say it will not be easy.
On the 25th, investment banking industry sources said FuriosaAI has recently begun reviewing a Nasdaq listing in the United States. It began soliciting new investment from overseas institutional investors last month and is reportedly assessing the possibility of listing on Nasdaq. The fundraising size is about 400 billion won, and global investment bank Morgan Stanley is acting as adviser.
FuriosaAI, like Nvidia, is a fabless (design-focused) start - up that makes AI Semiconductor chips and was founded in 2017. Its main focus is designing AI Semiconductor chips specialized for inference, such as for large language models (LLM), and last August it introduced the second-generation LLM execution AI chip Renegade2, equipped with high-bandwidth memory (HBM3).
FuriosaAI has been regarded as the most anticipated initial public offering in the domestic public offering market. In July it raised 170 billion won in new investment, becoming a unicorn with a corporate value of more than 1 trillion won, and expectations for growth in the AI industry increased. FuriosaAI last year selected Mirae Asset Securities and NH Investment & Securities as its listing underwriters.
Recently, interest in FuriosaAI has surged among overseas institutional investors and global technology funds, changing the situation. As the AI chip ecosystem reorganizes around the United States, assessments inside and outside the company have consistently held that, given its business model, listing on Nasdaq would be advantageous for corporate value and fundraising.
Earlier, Coupang chose Nasdaq, saying that in the domestic market, valuation methods for platform and e-commerce corporations had not been established and there was a lack of investors who could understand persistent losses and large-scale investment structures. Yanolja also decided to head to Nasdaq aiming for a valuation of 15 trillion won.
A source in the investment banking industry said, "Nasdaq is the key listing venue for global technology corporations, and a base of investors who highly value AI and semiconductor corporations such as Nvidia, AMD and ARM is already formed," adding, "FuriosaAI has no choice but to consider Nasdaq given that the scale of funds that can be raised is fundamentally different."
FuriosaAI has also secured recognition among overseas investors. Meta once included FuriosaAI on its list of acquisition (M&A) candidates. After experiencing underwhelming performance from its own AI chip development, Meta shifted toward acquiring foreign semiconductor companies with the necessary technology and negotiated with FuriosaAI earlier this year.
The Korea Exchange (KRX) has not hidden its disappointment over FuriosaAI's consideration of a Nasdaq listing. If FuriosaAI goes abroad, Korea would lose the example of a listed "domestic AI Semiconductor leading company." FuriosaAI was also visited by Lee Jae-myung when he was a candidate, after he pledged during his campaign to invest 100 trillion won in the AI sector.
AI was included among the 12 national strategic technologies designated by the government. FuriosaAI's overseas listing could be interpreted as a signal that "promising technology corporations find it difficult to have their corporate value recognized domestically." The Korea Exchange (KRX) reportedly sent vice president-level officials to FuriosaAI several times in an effort to persuade it to list.
A securities industry source said, "The listing departure of a leading domestic AI Semiconductor company would be a significant symbolic loss," adding, "The Korea Exchange (KRX) recently released AI listing screening guidelines and expressed a willingness to review more proactively even if valuations are somewhat high, which appears to be intended to deter overseas departures by companies like FuriosaAI."
Meanwhile, FuriosaAI's policy is to prioritize technology development and revenue growth and focus on improving performance rather than rushing to list. FuriosaAI's sales last year were 3 billion won, a 16.7% decrease from 3.6 billion won the previous year. Operating losses slightly increased from 63.4 billion won in 2023 to 77.3 billion won last year.