The government will decide this month which companies the Public Growth Fund will invest in to create a Korean version of Nvidia (K-Nvidia). Rebellions, which has proof-of-concept cases and the symbolism of a venture company, is widely seen as the leading candidate for the first investment.
According to the financial authorities on the 16th, the Financial Services Commission plans to convene the fund management deliberation committee in the last week of this month to discuss the first equity investment target of the Public Growth Fund. For its first investment, the Public Growth Fund plans to back a neural processing unit (NPU) fabless company to support K-Nvidia.
The reason Rebellions is cited as the leading candidate is its proof of concept (PoC). Even if an NPU performs well, errors may occur in real-world settings or compatibility may fall short, but Rebellions' first-generation NPU product is being used to run artificial intelligence (AI) services in collaboration with large corporations such as SK Telecom, KT Cloud, and LG Electronics.
Rebellions secured real AI demand sources—including Samsung, SKT, and Aramco—as strategic investors (SI). They prioritized adopting Rebellions' products for their own services. Rival FuriosaAI is centered on financial investors (FI). While both companies are regarded as having excellent technology, the industry believes Rebellions likely scored higher in the field validation area.
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix had also been mentioned as possible first investment targets for the Public Growth Fund, but there is talk that a venture company better fits the symbolism of the inaugural investment than a large corporation. The current corporate value of Rebellions, an unlisted company founded in 2020, is estimated to be in the 2 trillion won range. The Public Growth Fund will put 250 billion won into Rebellions' ongoing 600 billion won investment round, and the Korea Development Bank will inject 50 billion won.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) will hold an AI Semiconductor company roundtable this week with participation from NPU corporations such as FuriosaAI, DeepX, Mobillingt, and HyperAccel to assess funding needs across the industry and discuss industrial development direction and specific investments.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said that the investment target, terms, and size have not been finalized. An FSC official said, "There are additional agenda items to bring to this committee beyond the NPU corporation investment case, and while it is true that Rebellions is a strong contender, there is also a possibility it may not be discussed this time."