AI Chip Startup Rebellions Eyes South Korean IPO Next Year
Quick Look
- AI chip startup Rebellions is targeting an initial public offering in South Korea in the first or second quarter of next year, CEO Sunghyun Park told CNBC.
- The company is leaning towards a KOSPI listing, citing alignment with Korean government AI infrastructure projects and investor preference.
- Rebellions, backed by Samsung and SK Hynix, develops server systems powered by its Rebel100 NPU chips for AI inference.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Rebellions, an AI chip startup backed by major tech firms and the Korean government, is preparing for an initial public offering. The company aims to capitalize on the growing investor interest in AI semiconductors, particularly for inference processes.
Rebellions is targeting an initial public offering in South Korea in the first or second quarter of next year, the CEO told CNBC exclusively, as it looks to capitalize on massive investor interest in AI chips.
Sunghyun Park, CEO of Rebellions, told CNBC that the company is leaning toward a listing on the KOSPI over the KOSDAQ.
"Real revenue is now being generated. That's why we are preparing the IPO with underwriter at J.P. Morgan and [Samsung Securities]," Park told CNBC on Wednesday.
"Basically, our investors prefer the Korea market, KOSPI actually, because we are well aligned with the Korean government megaproject, one of the largest commitments into AI infrastructure in the world," he added.
Park said the company was also evaluating other listing options, such as the U.S., and was currently holding talks with both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.
CNBC previously reported that Rebellions was planning a listing, but Park's comments are the first details of the plan.
Rebellions, which is backed by Samsung, SK Hynix and a key fund from the Korean government, is one of a slew of startups that are aiming to take share in the AI inference semiconductor market. Inference refers to the process of running AI models, and it is growing in importance as companies talk up more advanced AI agents.
While Nvidia 's graphics processing units (GPUs) have been the gold standard for training AI models, there is an increasing focus on chips that can run inferencing processes quickly while also being more energy efficient.
Rebellions sells server systems powered by its Rebel100 NPU chips. A potential public listing for Rebellions comes as investors remain bullish on semiconductor companies which have been central to the AI buildout. The PHLX Semiconductor index, which tracks various chip firms, is up around 80% this year.
Other companies are also looking to take advantage of this interest. Earlier this year, inferencing chip startup Cerebras Systems went public in the U.S.
Meanwhile, SK Hynix, which is one of the world's biggest memory chipmakers, is set to list shares on the Nasdaq in the U.S. this week to take advantage of investor appetite in memory. The company is already listed in South Korea.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Rebellions will pursue a KOSPI listing in Q1 or Q2 of next year.
Likely · Within months
Open Questions
- Specific valuation for the IPO?
- Details on US listing evaluation?
