This article was published on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 3:34 p.m. on Dec. 26, 2025.
When biotech company Rznomics was listed on the KOSDAQ market, its investor, venture capital firm UTC Investment, immediately began selling equity. Even though it sold only 25% of its total holdings, it has already earned twice its invested principal.
Market analysts say UTC Investment could recover 10 times its invested principal if it sells all of its remaining equity. They say Rznomics could become UTC Investment's "ten-bagger" (a stock whose price rises more than 10fold).
On the 26th, people in the VC industry said UTC Investment sold 43,256 shares of Rznomics on the open market on the 23rd. That was four trading days after Rznomics was listed on the KOSDAQ. On that day UTC Investment is estimated to have sold all shares not subject to lockup, recovering about 6.9 billion won in total at roughly 160,000 won per share.
Rznomics is a biotech firm specializing in long‑acting (sustained‑release) drug development and was listed on the KOSDAQ on the 18th. Powered by a joint research agreement with global big pharma Eli Lilly on a gene therapy for hereditary hearing loss, it closed its first trading day at 90,000 won, up 300% from the offering price of 22,500 won.
Rznomics also hit the daily limit on the 19th and 22nd. Its stock price quickly surged above 150,000 won. Market capitalization immediately exceeded 2 trillion won. The market cap based on the offering price was only about 300 billion won, but the stock's repeated rallies raised the company's valuation to about seven times the offering price.
Earlier, UTC Investment participated in Rznomics's Series C financing in June 2022 and acquired 173,023 shares. At the time it invested 3 billion won for a company valuation of about 150 billion won.
Market participants see a possibility that UTC Investment will realize more than 10fold returns through Rznomics. It has so far sold only 25% of its total holdings; in one month it can sell 86,512 shares, and in three months 43,255 shares. Assuming it sells all of these at the current price of 170,000 won, total proceeds are estimated to approach 29.4 billion won. That is about 10 times the invested principal of 3 billion won.
UTC Investment's successful exit from Rznomics is also expected to be a boon for Forest Partners. In August, Forest Partners acquired 100% of UTC Investment's equity and became the largest shareholder. After the change of the largest shareholder to Forest Partners, UTC Investment immediately began forming a new biotech fund.
A VC industry official said, "UTC Investment was once regarded as a distinguished bio investor, but it has struggled to recover investment capital amid a high‑interest venture investment market downturn," adding, "The Rznomics exit could revive market expectations for UTC Investment."