This article was posted on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 2:45 p.m. on Jan. 12, 2026.
With Livsmed, a maker of laparoscopic surgical devices, debuting on the KOSDAQ market, early investors are starting to exit. Livsmed, which succeeded in listing with a valuation of 1 trillion won as one of the biggest IPOs in the second half of last year, appears likely to see a parade of lucrative exits by existing investors.
Stonebridge Ventures sold 382,715 of the 3,140,247 shares (12.72%) of Livsmed it held in on-exchange trading from the 2nd to the 5th. It appears to have prioritized exiting roughly 30% of the 1.3 million shares that were not subject to lock-up.
Stonebridge formed ties with Livsmed beginning with a Series A round investment in 2016. Since then, it used four funds to make eight follow-on investments, succeeding in securing the largest equity stake among venture capitalists. At the time of the initial investment, Livsmed's valuation was assessed at about 25 billion won.
Livsmed listed on the KOSDAQ market on Dec. 25 at an offering price of 55,000 won. Its market capitalization is about 1.3536 trillion won.
Based on the price Stonebridge sold at earlier this month, Livsmed's market capitalization is about 1.4 trillion won. Considering that the shares not subject to lock-up are from early investors, the gain relative to the investment reaches 56 times. If future share price upside materializes, the remaining holdings could be sold at even higher profits.
Livsmed develops surgical instruments for laparoscopic surgery, including "ArtiSential." It has also built a product portfolio that includes the vascular sealer ArtiSeal, the surgical stapler ArtiStapler, the laparoscopic camera system LivsCam, and the surgical robot Stark. The laparoscopic surgical instruments market is oligopolized by a few firms, including the U.S. company Intuitive Surgical. Livsmed is increasing its market share by promoting its multi-jointed surgical device with adjustable angles and its price competitiveness.
In addition to Stonebridge, many institutional investors saw Livsmed's growth potential and invested, so their exits are also expected to follow. NHN Investment joined Stonebridge Ventures in the Series A round, securing a 4.32% stake. Other investors that participated include LB Investment, Wonik Investment Partners and Intervest.
However, from the perspective of ordinary shareholders, the large potential overhang of sellable shares is a negative. Most pre-listing investor holdings, excluding those of major shareholders, were not subject to lock-up or have very short lock-up periods of about one to three months.
Of the total tradable shares, 32.03% were available to trade on the listing day, and the quantities with lock-up periods of one month, two months and three months are 10.31%, 9.83% and 5.29%, respectively. Shares with lock-up periods of 12 months and 36 months account for 3.19% and 39.36%, respectively. Given that the shares with a 36-month lock-up are entirely representative Jeong Ju Lee's equity, most of the shares will effectively be released into the market by February.
In practice, Livsmed's stock has not held up compared with other issues that listed around the same time. It started at the offering price of 55,000 won and briefly rose to 71,000 won on the listing day, but then fell into the 40,000-won range. Recently, however, the stock has risen again and is trading in the 60,000-won range.