In a global AI market dominated by scale and speed, one Korean startup chose a different path—efficiency. After a decade of refining how intelligence itself runs, Nota Inc. has reached a defining moment with its KOSDAQ debut. Its journey from a TIPS-backed experiment showcase to a global optimization pioneer reveals how Korea’s deep-tech strategy is beginning to deliver tangible, world-class results.

Korea’s Nota AI Officially Lists on KOSDAQ

On November 3, 2025, Korean AI optimization company Nota Inc. (노타) was officially listed on the KOSDAQ market, marking a new milestone in Korea’s deep-tech sector. With an estimated valuation of approximately KRW 640 billion (about USD 462 million), Nota became the first Korean company specializing in AI optimization and lightweighting technology to go public.

Founded in 2015 and backed early by Naver D2SF and Blue Point Partners, Nota has evolved from a small KAIST student startup into a global AI leader whose technologies power intelligent systems across industries.

The company’s flagship platform, NetsPresso®, is now used by global semiconductor and AI leaders including NVIDIA, Samsung Electronics, Qualcomm, Sony, and Renesas.

From TIPS Showcase to Global IPO: The Nota Growth Story

Nota’s global exposure began in 2019 when it was selected to join the TIPS × beSUCCESS Korean Startup Showcase in Silicon Valley, an initiative co-organized by beSUCCESS Media Group and the Korean government to promote promising startups overseas. KoreaTechDesk also covered the event extensively, where Nota’s participation marked its beginning into the international deep-tech arena—an early signal of the company’s long-term global potential.

Over the following years, Nota secured a series of funding rounds:

• Seed & Pre-A (2015–2019): Naver D2SF, Bluepoint Partners.
• Series A (2020): KRW 8 with participation from LB investment, Samsung SDS (via Samsung Venture Investment Fund) and LG CNS.
• Series B (2021): KRW 17.5 billion from Stonebridge Ventures, LB Investment, DS Asset Management, Intervest, and Company K Partners.
• Series C (2024): KRW 53.2 billion from Stick Ventures, LB Investment, KDB Industrial Bank, and Mirae Asset Securities.

These investments fueled Nota’s evolution into an AI optimization powerhouse, delivering technology that reduces computation load, accelerating inference speed, and enables AI to run efficiently on smaller devices.

Technology That Defines Efficiency in the AI Era

At the heart of Nota’s innovation lies NetsPresso®, an automatic AI model optimization platform that minimizes computation while maintaining model accuracy. It automates pruning, quantization, and other compression techniques that once required manual engineering—making it a crucial infrastructure for on-device and edge AI deployment.

This platform has led to commercial projects worldwide:

• Dubai Road and Transport Authority (RTA) partnership to deploy generative AI-based intelligent traffic systems (ITS) under the Nota Vision Agent (NVA) solution.
• Sony IMX500 project in the U.S., where Nota achieved 100% accuracy in pedestrian detection during AI Voucher tests by Korea’s NIPA.
• Renesas Electronics collaboration to develop driver monitoring systems optimized for low-power MCUs.
• Pilot deployments across sectors such as industrial safety, retail, and smart mobility, showcasing how Nota enables efficient AI across hardware ecosystems.

CEO and CTO: The Founders Behind the Milestone

CEO Chae Myung-su, a KAIST alumnus, founded Nota with the belief that AI should enhance daily life through accessibility and efficiency. He guided the company’s pivot from a typo-reduction app to deep-tech specialization in AI optimization.

CTO Kim Tae-ho, co-founder and architect of NetsPresso, led the company’s research into model compression, transforming it into an automated platform now used across industries. His technical direction allowed Nota to build partnerships with NVIDIA, ARM, Renesas, and Sony, proving Korea’s capacity to lead in edge AI infrastructure.

Both founders emphasize human-centric technology and long-term sustainability—values reflected in Nota’s mission statement, “AI to Everyone, Everywhere.”

Nota AI’s KOSDAQ IPO Debut: What It Reveals About Korea’s Innovation Strategy

The confirmed listing of Nota AI on KOSDAQ IPO does reflect the company’s years of successful consistent innovation. But beyond, Nota’s successful KOSDAQ listing has also validated Korea’s decade-long strategy in cultivating deep-tech startups through public–private acceleration models. And this includes TIPS, KISED, and NIPA.

By progressing from an early-stage incubator to a KOSDAQ-listed AI innovator, Nota demonstrates that government-supported R&D can eventually translate into globally scalable outcomes.

Not only that, but this successful KOSDAQ IPO of Nota also marks a meaningful milestone for beSUCCESS Media Group. When the company introduced Nota at their 2019 TIPS X beSUCCESS Silicon Valley showcase, few imagined it would one day headline Korea’s deep-tech IPO story.

Today, six years later, that early-stage feature has come full circle—proving how consistent ecosystem-building can shape global success stories.

Globally, Nota’s trajectory reflects a broader shift in AI investment—from developing high-performance models to making AI efficient, sustainable, and embedded. As companies worldwide face the challenge of operational cost and energy efficiency, Korean startups like Nota are setting benchmarks for AI efficiency as a service.

Nota’s Next Chapter after IPO: Building Global Standards for Efficient AI

Post-IPO, Nota plans to expand its optimization portfolio across embedded, mobility, and defense sectors while strengthening partnerships with global chipmakers. The company targets profitability by 2027, supported by projected annual growth of around 70%.

Funds raised through the IPO will be directed toward R&D enhancement, new platform development, and entry into high-value verticals such as smart mobility, industrial safety, and aerospace AI systems.

CEO Chae Myung-su stated,

“This IPO is not merely about raising capital but a strategic step to earn global trust and build a foundation for greater growth. We will continue leading industrial innovation through AI optimization technology and realize the vision of ‘AI Everywhere,’ where intelligence can operate freely across all environments.”

Nota AI: A Decade that Redefined Korean Deep Tech

Starting from KAIST’s campus and now soaring on KOSDAQ’s trading floor, the journey of Nota captures the tangible transformation of Korea’s startup ecosystem. It shows how consistent support from government programs, venture investors, and corporate alliances can produce global outcomes in sectors once dominated by Silicon Valley.

As AI’s future moves toward sustainability and embedded intelligence, Nota’s story offers a tangible blueprint for Korean startups aspiring to turn local innovation into global impact.

And eventually, this milestone also carries quiet significance for the ecosystem players who first spotlighted Nota, including beSUCCESS Media Group, underscoring how long-term ecosystem vision and founder persistence together can nurture companies that shape the next industrial frontier.

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