The number of companies listed on South Korea's Kosdaq through the technology special listing programme has surpassed 300, 21 years after the system was introduced. Launched with a focus on biotech, tech special listings have expanded into advanced industries such as artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, robotics, and aerospace and defence, becoming a key listing route on the Kosdaq.

The Korea Exchange said on Thursday that medical device maker Skylabs listed on the Kosdaq, bringing the cumulative number of listed companies to 300 since the tech special listing system was introduced in 2005. Skylabs' IPO price is 10,000 won.

The tech special listing programme provides innovative companies with strong technology but difficulty meeting general listing requirements based solely on current financial performance with an opportunity to enter the Kosdaq.

The number of tech special listing companies first topped 100 in October 2020, then reached 200 in November 2023 and 300 in September 2026.

The annual number of newly listed tech special listing companies has also increased. It rose from 21 in 2018 to 31 in 2021 and 35 in 2023, and hit a record high of 42 in 2024. This year, 17 companies have entered the Kosdaq through the programme as of Thursday.

The exchange has also continuously expanded the industries eligible for the programme. It began in 2005 targeting the biotech sector and opened the system to all industries in 2013. From 2019 it expanded the scope of single technology evaluations, and more recently it established qualitative review standards by sector for industries such as AI, space and energy, and advanced robotics, cybersecurity and K-content.

The cumulative IPO proceeds raised by the 300 tech special listing companies total about 8 trillion won. Of that, biotech companies accounted for 4.5 trillion won, or 55.5 percent.

Recently, the share of advanced industries has also been rising rapidly. Among this year's tech special listing companies, advanced industries such as AI and biotech, semiconductors, and defence and space account for 88.2 percent by number of companies. They account for 96.3 percent by offering size and 96.6 percent by market capitalisation at listing.

The market capitalisation at listing of tech special listing companies newly listed this year as of Thursday totals 3.71 trillion won, about 62 percent of the total market capitalisation at listing for all new Kosdaq listings excluding SPACs. The average market capitalisation at listing for tech special listing companies was also 247.4 billion won, higher than 206.6 billion won for companies listed through general listings.

There have also been cases where corporate value grew sharply after listing. According to the exchange, the current market capitalisation of tech special listing companies is up an average of 147 percent from the time of listing.

Alteogen's market capitalisation rose more than 140-fold, from 145.1 billion won at listing to 21.42 trillion won as of last month on the 31st. Rainbow Robotics, Peptron, LigaChem Bio and Park Systems also saw their market capitalisation increase sharply after listing.

Among the top 10 Kosdaq companies by market capitalisation, five are tech special listing companies: Alteogen, Rainbow Robotics, Peptron, ABL Bio and Robotis. The share of tech special listing companies among all Kosdaq-listed firms is 23 percent excluding SPACs.

But investor protection remains a task alongside support for the growth of technology companies. So far, five tech special listing companies have been delisted for reasons such as receiving a disclaimer of audit opinion, and 11 of 188 newly listed tech special listing companies over the past five years have been designated as issues under administration.

The Korea Exchange plans to strengthen reviews of the value and growth potential of advanced technology companies while expanding the scope of tailored qualitative review standards and pursuing improvements to the professional evaluation system.