More than 300 corporations have gone public on the KOSDAQ market through the technology exception. It has been 21 years since the technology exception listing system was introduced in 2005. The cumulative amount raised by these corporations in public offerings totals 8 trillion won.
The Korea Exchange (KRX) said on the 4th that with Sky Labs listing on the KOSDAQ market, the number of corporations listed via the technology exception has reached 300. The number of technology exception corporations hit 100 in Oct. 2020 and rose to 200 in Nov. 2023.
The technology exception listing system allows corporations that possess innovative technology but have low visibility in performance such as revenue to go public if their technological capabilities and growth potential are recognized. First introduced in 2005 for bio corporations, its scope has expanded to deep tech, artificial intelligence (AI), and space and energy.
The cumulative public offering amount for technology exception corporations totals 8 trillion won. Of that, bio corporations accounted for 4.5 trillion won, or 55.5% of the total.
The market capitalization at listing for technology exception corporations has also increased significantly. Their market capitalization has risen an average of 147% compared with the time of listing. Total market capitalization increased from 265.2 billion won in 2005 to 7.8786 trillion won in 2025, and as of this year accounts for 62% of the entire KOSDAQ market's capitalization.
In particular, Alteogen(196170) rose more than 140 times compared with the time of listing, marking the highest increase, followed by Rainbow Robotics (56 times), Peptron (51 times), and LigaChem Biosciences (38 times).
However, concerns remain about maintaining the listings of technology exception corporations. So far, five corporations listed via the technology exception have been delisted after auditors issued disclaimers of opinion. Among technology exception corporations newly listed over the past five years, 11 were designated for administrative issues and two triggered delisting grounds.