[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Shares of companies related to FuriosaAI, a South Korean AI semiconductor startup, are on a sharp rise as expectations grow that the company may soon achieve unicorn status—a valuation of over 1 trillion KRW ($740 million USD). The rally is being fueled by surging demand for AI chips, where FuriosaAI specializes in AI inference semiconductor design as a fabless company.
According to the Korea Exchange, TS Investment, a venture capital firm invested in FuriosaAI, saw its share price jump 27.25% on the KOSDAQ last week. DSC Investment, another stakeholder, rose 5.23%. Meanwhile, Xperics, which has invested in FuriosaAI through its affiliates, soared 47.45% over the same period.
FuriosaAI’s partner companies also saw significant gains. FORBY4, which collaborates with FuriosaAI on image enhancement technologies, hit the upper trading limit for five consecutive sessions starting April 14. PanStar Enterprise, which holds exclusive Japanese distribution rights for FuriosaAI’s semiconductors, surged 30.81% over the past week.
FuriosaAI recently increased the size of its Series C bridge funding round from 700 billion KRW to 900 billion KRW, citing overwhelming investor interest. The company had originally aimed to raise 800 billion KRW. Once this round is complete, FuriosaAI’s corporate valuation is expected to rise to approximately 920 billion KRW, up more than 30% from last year’s valuation of 700 billion KRW.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
