After Elice’s 32% Drop, Lablup Seeks 48x Sales in Its IPO

Elice, a Seoul-based AI cloud company, ended its first Kosdaq session on 20 October 2026 at 61,500 won, down 32.04% from its 90,500-won IPO price, according to Korea Exchange closing data.

Two weeks before its own Kosdaq listing on 3 November, AI infrastructure software company Lablup is seeking a post-listing valuation of up to 320 billion won on 2025 revenue of 6.7 billion won, TheElec reported on 20 October 2026. By our arithmetic that is about 48 times last year’s revenue.

Business Pill · CONCENTRATION

A one-minute explainer of concentration: when a few customers account for most of a company’s contracted revenue. It teaches the general idea only and says nothing about any company in this story.

How We Got Here

October has brought a run of public-market tests for AI infrastructure companies, each covered here as it happened:

• 9 October: Firmus, the Nvidia-backed builder of AI data centres, withdrew its application to list on the ASX, citing recent market volatility and conditions, ABC News reported (our AirTrunk piece).
• 13 October: AirTrunk is delaying the IPO of a $1.5 billion real estate investment trust in Singapore until next year, CNBC-TV18 reported, citing people familiar with the matter (AirTrunk).
• 15 October: Reuters reported that some investors who attended Anthropic’s investor day discussed a valuation of around $1.5 trillion for its November share sale, a step down from the roughly $2 trillion investors had previously expected (Anthropic’s IPO).
• 18 October: Microsoft pulled out of a UK data centre deal with Nscale, Bloomberg and Reuters reported, citing the Telegraph (Microsoft and Nscale). The same day, Bloomberg reported that some investors urged a $16 billion to $19 billion valuation for Nscale’s listing, against the roughly $30 billion it seeks (Nscale’s IPO).
• 19 October: OpenAI is racing to secure investor commitments for a round of about $30 billion before Anthropic’s expected public market debut in mid-November, Reuters reported (OpenAI’s round).
• 20 October: Elice closed its debut down 32.04% (Elice’s first day).

What Lablup Is Asking For

Lablup’s proposed offering price ranges from 19,000 won to 22,000 won a share, implying a post-listing market capitalization of 276.3 billion won to 320 billion won, TheElec reported. By our arithmetic, that range is about 41 to 48 times its 2025 revenue.

The company reported revenue of 6.7 billion won in 2025, operating profit of approximately 600 million won and a net loss of 1.5 billion won, per TheElec. It forecasts revenue of 9.9 billion won in 2026, 22.1 billion won in 2027, 37.8 billion won in 2028 and 57.8 billion won in 2029.

To reach its valuation, Lablup used estimated 2029 net profit of 21.1 billion won, discounted at 15% a year to a present value of 12.9 billion won, then applied an average price-to-earnings ratio of 33.6 times from Wisenut, Suresofttech and Nutanix, TheElec reported. The offering price applies an IPO discount to the resulting 29,555 won a share.

“Our revenue forecasts are not based on applying a market share assumption to the total addressable market, but on the revenue growth trends of existing customers,” Lablup CEO Shin Jung-kyu said, according to TheElec. Lablup cited an average net revenue retention rate of 131.9% over the past two years and identified 163 global neocloud companies as potential customers.

Its flagship product, Backend.AI, manages AI accelerators including GPUs and NPUs and has been deployed at more than 120 sites, according to the company. Lablup plans to put half of its IPO proceeds into hardware for technology validation, TheElec reported.

Where Demand Still Shows Up

On the same day as Elice’s debut, the anchor investor quota for Jio Platforms’ IPO was oversubscribed more than 30 times, drawing bids from BlackRock, Capital Group and GIC, according to a source familiar with the matter cited by CNBC. The anchor book received total bids of 2.5 trillion rupees ($26.3 billion) for an 81.1 billion rupee portion, the source told CNBC.

Jio Platforms, backed by Meta and Google, plans to raise up to 302 billion rupees ($3.2 billion) in India’s largest ever IPO in rupee terms, CNBC reported. CNBC described it as the country’s largest telecommunications and digital services company. We include it in the table below as a contrast, since it is not an AI infrastructure company.

The October Table

The Structural Read

As we read it, the common thread in the table is what public buyers can verify. Elice priced at the top of its range and then closed 32.04% lower, and some Nscale investors urged a valuation well below the roughly $30 billion it seeks, per Bloomberg.

As we read it, contracts carry much of the weight in these filings. Nscale’s Form S-1 lists Anthropic agreements worth up to about $44.6 billion and Microsoft statements of work worth up to about $43.8 billion, and Microsoft has since pulled out of the Loughton deal, per Bloomberg and Reuters citing the Telegraph.

As we read it, Lablup’s pitch rests on growth from existing customers: TheElec reports a 131.9% net revenue retention rate and a plan to grow revenue from 6.7 billion won in 2025 to 57.8 billion won in 2029.

Three Implications

A DAY-ONE GAP Elice closed at 61,500 won, down 32.04% from its 90,500-won IPO price, per Korea Exchange data.

A 2029 VALUATION Lablup seeks up to 320 billion won on 6.7 billion won of 2025 revenue, using discounted 2029 profit, TheElec reported.

DEMAND ELSEWHERE Jio Platforms’ anchor book was oversubscribed more than 30 times, a source told CNBC.

The Business Engineer Lens

This story maps onto the Business Engineer framework The AI Capex Map.

The framework puts it this way: “The $1T capex cycle is being underwritten by a $1T concentrated demand commitment from two counterparties whose combined free cash flow is deeply negative”.

As we read it, the IPO tests in this table are one place where that concentration meets public-market buyers. The framework was published in May 2026 and does not address these October listings.

What Is Not Established

Lablup has not priced its offering; the 320 billion won figure is the top of its proposed range, and the 41 to 48 times multiples are our arithmetic on 2025 revenue, not the company’s method, which discounts forecast 2029 profit.

The Nscale valuation figures and the AirTrunk timing come from people familiar with the matter, and the Jio oversubscription from one source cited by CNBC. Elice’s close is one trading session. Nothing here shows that any one of these listings caused another’s outcome, and nothing here is a forecast.

The Bottom Line

Elice closed its Kosdaq debut on 20 October 2026 down 32.04% from its IPO price, and Lablup, listing on 3 November, is seeking up to 320 billion won on 6.7 billion won of 2025 revenue, TheElec reported: about 48 times, by our arithmetic.