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.
Inference chips take off
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.
The Rebel-Quad is the second-generation product from Rebellions and is made up of four Rebel AI chips. Rebellions, a South Korean firm, is looking to rival companies like Nvidia in AI chips.
Rebellions
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.
— CNBC’s Sam Meredith helped contribute to this article.
