Korea Exchange Heads to New York to Pitch KOSDAQ Listings

This article was published on Sept. 18, 2026, at 6:05 p.m. on Signal, a capital markets compass service.

The Korea Exchange will travel to New York next month to pitch KOSDAQ initial public offerings to Korean-American companies there. Beyond overseas biotech firms, which had been the main target, companies in beauty, artificial intelligence and other non-biotech fields are gradually showing interest in listing on the KOSDAQ, prompting analysis that the exchange's sales efforts are beginning to pay off.

The listing department of the exchange's KOSDAQ Market Division plans to hold briefings for local Korean-American companies in Manhattan in mid-October, according to investment banking sources on the 18th. Rather than setting up a separate booth or venue, the exchange will take part in portions of KOOM WEEK 2026, which runs from Oct. 12 to 18. KOOM WEEK is hosted by United Korean Founders (UKF), New York's largest nonprofit network of Korean entrepreneurs and investors, and has served as a forum connecting startups operating in the United States with global investment institutions.

The move is seen as a direct effort to promote the KOSDAQ market to overseas companies and explain the advantages of listing in Korea, timed to Korea Premium Week, which begins on the 28th of this month. The exchange plans to travel with Samsung Securities, whose track record in underwriting listings by British and U.S. companies, including TeraView and Ingenia Therapeutics, has drawn attention recently.

In the first half of this year, the exchange attended BIO USA 2026 in San Diego to court KOSDAQ listings by global biotech firms. At that event, it conducted listing promotion activities alongside major players in the investment industry, including Samsung Securities, Eugene Investment & Securities, the U.S. subsidiary of Mirae Asset Securities, Korea Investment Partners, law firm Yoon & Yang and Samil PwC. The event is held annually, and while department heads had typically joined in the past, senior executives such as securities firm vice presidents and chief executives took part this time, lending added weight.

Next month's investor relations event in New York will primarily target Korean-American companies in beauty, food and beverage, and real estate. Some have already settled on a KOSDAQ listing, and they are expected to be directly or indirectly connected to the exchange's listing drive. Memebox, one of the KOOM WEEK participants and operator of the beauty brand Nooni, selected Samsung Securities as its listing underwriter two years ago and is pursuing a KOSDAQ debut. BuildBlock, a longtime UKF partner that handled exhibition booth construction for the event, signed an underwriting agreement with Shinhan Securities last month and is reviewing a KOSDAQ listing.

Market participants say the exchange's efforts to bring foreign companies to list in Korea are producing results. Energy Vault, a New York-listed developer of energy storage systems for secondary batteries, has held multiple meetings with accounting and law firms as well as the exchange in pursuit of a cross-listing on the KOSDAQ, according to sources. Point2 Technology, a deep-tech company that raised about 100 billion won in investment from Nvidia, is also continuing IPO discussions with its underwriter, Samsung Securities.