South Korea recorded the first listing of equity crowdfunding-backed startup on the second-tier bourse Kosdaq on Oct. 17.

Dedicated to developing secure element technology for cybersecurity of financial institutions, Seoul-based Aton began trading on Kosdaq Oct. 17, after raising 38.6 billion won ($32.5 million) -- a higher end of the marketed range -- in an initial public offering underwritten by NH Investment & Securities and KB Securities. 

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This came after the startup in March 2016 raised 90 million won on online crowdfunding platform Wadiz. At that time, Aton was valued at 21.6 billion won, and the valuation jumped eightfold over the course of 3 1/2 years through the IPO, according to Wadiz.

“The case indicates the investment in a startup at the time of economic slowdown could reap high returns in a short term that is hard to get in a conventional financial market,” Wadiz CEO Shin Hye-sung said in a statement.

Founded in 2012, Wadiz is the first crowdfunding platform that gained approval for equity crowdfunding by Korea’s financial authorities in January 2016. It has since taken the No. 1 spot, with 87 percent domestic market share by the funding size as of end-June. Wadiz’s platform offers both rewards-based crowdfunding and equity crowdfunding.

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)