AI voice startup Neosapience lists on Kosdaq, raising $23 million
What's the deal? Neosapience, a South Korean AI voice-generation company, began trading on the Kosdaq market on September 21. Its IPO raised US$26.5M (roughly $23 million) through the sale of two million new shares, giving the company a market capitalisation of about US$161.6M at the offer price.
Why now? The listing follows strong investor demand. Retail subscription drew a 1,047.78-to-1 ratio and gathered more than US$2.18B in deposits, while institutional bookbuilding ran at roughly 220-to-1, pushing the final offer price to US$13.2 — the top of its indicative range.
Notably, more shares are locked up than expected. Institutions holding 44.02% of their allocation agreed to mandatory holding commitments, cutting freely tradable stock on day one to 23.21% from an earlier 28.66% — easing near-term supply pressure. Daishin SecuritiesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → led the offering.
What's the endgame? Founded in 2017, Neosapience develops generative AI voice-synthesis technology. Its flagship service, TypecastDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, turns text into content using AI voices and virtual characters, and has drawn 3.2 million cumulative users and over 2,000 corporate clients, including more than 90% of South Korea's top 10 conglomerates.
The company recently listed the Typecast API on the AWS MarketplaceDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to target overseas B2B customers. Its next growth bet is Neona Agent, a conversational AI service that recognises speech and holds real-time dialogue, with planned uses in education, media, and customer support.
By the numbers: Revenue reached US$8.93M last year, up about 66.4% year on year, while the operating loss narrowed to US$2.25M from US$6.61M. In the first half of this year, the company posted US$5.03M in revenue and a US$2.82M operating loss. Monthly recurring revenue has grown roughly 11-fold over four years.
Neosapience plans to spend the proceeds on AI infrastructure such as GPUs, research and development, and marketing to expand overseas.
The signal: The debut shows continued appetite for AI-focused listings in Asia, with a voice-synthesis specialist testing whether enterprise demand and international expansion can carry it beyond its home market.
Read more: edaily.co.kr
Image credit: rndmcnlly
