"We plan to establish local corporations in Japan and Singapore sequentially with the funding raised and expand our overseas customer base. By 2027, we aim to build a global Internet data center (IDC) and leap forward as a world-class artificial intelligence (AI) corporation."
Seo Sang-deok, the CEO of S2W, noted at a news conference regarding the initial public offering (IPO) held in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 5th. During the conference, CEO Seo expressed the ambition for S2W to expand its achievements globally while transitioning from a security corporation to a big data analysis AI corporation.
Founded in 2018, S2W gained recognition in the past as a 'dark web analysis company'. S2W captured illegal transaction traces on the dark web during the 'Nth room incident', which gathered public outrage due to the sexual exploitation of minors. At that time, it was acknowledged for its technological prowess, even collaborating with Interpol in investigations. Subsequently, S2W significantly expanded its business scope. It transformed from focusing solely on dark web and telegram analysis and cryptocurrency transactions to a corporation that comprehensively analyzes security threat information from outside organizations.
Currently, S2W's core technology is 'multi-domain cross-analysis'. This method involves collecting and refining heterogeneous data from multiple sources and deriving information by combining domain-specific AI and knowledge graph-based analysis technology. Based on this technology, S2W operates ▲ the national security big data platform 'XARVIS' ▲ the cyber threat intelligence platform 'QUAXAR' ▲ and the industry-specific AI platform 'SAIP'.
CEO Seo emphasized, "The multi-domain cross-analysis technology, which encapsulates the results of S2W's years of research and development (R&D), extracts crucial information by collecting data from various domains and analyzing correlations, thereby streamlining and refining organizational decision-making systems. Our strengths lie in possessing a high versatility and scalability encompassing national security, corporate security, and industry-specific AI."
Sales performance was also revealed. Since its founding, S2W has entered into business contracts with domestic and international investigative and defense agencies, as well as public and government institutions in Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and Indonesia. In the previous year's sales, the share of overseas sales exceeded 23%, and the export amount increased more than six times compared to the previous year. This verified technological capability in the B2G institutional sector was also expanded to various industries such as manufacturing, information technology (IT) and telecommunications, finance, and distribution, recording an annual average customer growth rate of about 131%.
CEO Seo stated, "We recorded an overwhelming customer retention rate of about 96% last year, which is unusual in the IT industry, centered around high-quality clients such as large corporations and government agencies. Additionally, the proportion of software as a service (SaaS) sales accounted for about 69% of total revenue, indicating that we have established a solid recurring revenue structure, which also supports the stability and competitiveness of our business model."
S2W is pursuing an initial public offering with the goal of global expansion. Through this IPO, 1.58 million new shares will be issued. Based on the desired offering price (11,400~13,200 won), the offering amount is expected to be between 18 billion and 20.9 billion won. The market capitalization after listing is expected to be between 120.7 billion and 139.8 billion won. From the 30th of last month until today, demand forecasting for institutional investors is being conducted to finalize the offering price. Subscription for individual investors will be held for two days starting from the 7th, with Daishin Securities acting as the lead underwriter.
S2W stated that the funds secured from the IPO will be used for establishing corporations in Japan and Singapore and building a global IDC (Internet Data Center). CEO Seo emphasized, "This IPO is part of a strategic move to strengthen the financial foundation and credibility that will allow S2W's global expansion to progress more smoothly and rapidly. Due to the lack of domestic security solutions, there is high demand for Korean corporations in Japan, and Singapore will serve as a base for entering Asia and the Middle East."