This article was published on Dec. 26, 2025, at 3:34 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
When biotechnology corporation Rznomics listed on the KOSDAQ market, its investor, venture capital firm UTC Investment, immediately moved to sell shares. Although it sold only 25% of its total equity holdings, it has already earned twice its invested principal.
Market analysts say that if UTC Investment sells all its remaining equity, it could recover 10 times its invested principal. They say Rznomics could become UTC Investment's "ten-bagger" (a stock whose price rises more than tenfold).
According to sources in the VC industry on the 26th, UTC Investment sold 43,256 shares of Rznomics on the open market on the 23rd. It was four trading days after Rznomics listed on the KOSDAQ market. That day UTC Investment sold all shares that were not subject to lock-up commitments, recovering an estimated total of 6.9 billion won at about 160,000 won per share.
Rznomics is a biotech specializing in long-acting (sustained-release) drug development and listed on the KOSDAQ market on the 18th. Riding on a joint research agreement with global big pharma Eli Lilly on a treatment for hereditary hearing loss, it closed its first day of trading at 90,000 won, 300% above the offering price of 22,500 won.
Rznomics hit the daily upper price limit on the 19th and the 22nd as well. Its stock price promptly surged above 150,000 won. Market capitalization quickly exceeded 2 trillion won. Based on the offering price, market cap was only about 300 billion won, but with the stock blasting higher day after day, the company's value rose to about seven times the offering price.
Earlier, UTC Investment participated in Rznomics's Series C funding round in June 2022 and acquired 259,535 shares. At the time it invested 3 billion won at an enterprise value of about 150 billion won. Of those, 86,512 shares were sold before the listing.
Market participants believe UTC Investment could realize returns of more than 10 times 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 it can sell 43,255 shares. Assuming all are sold 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 expected to be good news for Forest Partners as well. In August Forest Partners acquired 100% of UTC Investment's equity and became the largest shareholder. After the change of major shareholder to Forest Partners, UTC Investment immediately launched the formation of a new biotech fund.
A source in the VC industry said, "UTC Investment was once renowned as a premier bio investor, but it has struggled to recover investments amid a high-interest-rate venture market downturn," and noted, "The Rznomics exit performance could revive market expectations for UTC Investment."