[Biz Leader] 'AI Video Recognition' CU Box Aims to Become a Global Company with a Market Cap of 10 Trillion Won

Supply of AI Systems to Airports and Government Offices
Expanding Business Scope from B2G to B2B and B2C
Large-scale AI Workforce Expansion through IPO This Month

"We will grow into the world's top video recognition artificial intelligence (AI) technology company. We have already proven our capabilities as a top-tier player. We will become a global company with a market capitalization exceeding 1 trillion won."

Nam Unseong, CEO of CUBox, emphasized this in an interview with Asia Economy. Founded in 2010, CUBox is an AI technology company. It boasts various solutions and systems related to AI facial recognition. The company supplies AI systems to national security facilities such as the automated immigration inspection gates at Incheon International Airport, the four major government buildings, and the National Information Resources Service. The facial recognition market size is expected to reach tens of trillions of won annually.

CEO Nam said, "We started our AI business at the end of 2018, so it has been about five years now," adding, "Among facial recognition companies, we have established ourselves as a world top-tier player." He continued, "We are showcasing various technologies such as restoring 2D images into 3D and generating videos from text," and confidently stated, "We can do everything possible with video, including medical image diagnostic AI."

In 2020, based on its independently developed facial recognition algorithm, CUBox ranked 24th globally in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) in the United States. Then, in 2021, it achieved first place globally in five categories. The company has been steadily recognized in the related market and continues its growth trend. Since 2021, it has been actively expanding its B2B (business-to-business) operations.

Nam Unseong, CEO of CU Box

Last year, CUBox officially entered the private sector and is supplying facial recognition-based identity verification solutions to various financial companies' mobile applications. It provides facial recognition solutions used in securities firms' mobile trading systems (MTS) and card companies' non-face-to-face account opening services. The company is also engaged in activities to secure a leading position in the facial authentication-based easy payment market.

CEO Nam said, "We hold about 30 intellectual property (IP) rights," but added, "However, in AI technology, data acquisition and know-how are more important than IP." He explained, "It's not a specific IP that matters, but internalizing global trends and creating new services that is important."

CUBox is accelerating its research and development (R&D). The company has invested about 10 billion won in graphics processing units (GPUs) alone. This represents a large-scale investment relative to the company's size. Currently, the company has about 110 employees, most of whom are engaged in R&D. Even after the initial public offering (IPO), CUBox plans to focus on recruiting AI personnel.

CEO Nam emphasized, "Even if we create good AI models, it is difficult to advance the business without sufficient personnel," adding, "China's SenseTime has 4,000 to 5,000 AI personnel, and we need to grow to that scale to become a global company." He also said, "There is a need to achieve economies of scale," and "Increasing investment rapidly will show results."

CUBox received 6.4 billion won in Series A investment through Daewon Asset Management in 2020. Subsequently, from October 2020 to April 2021, it raised 25.6 billion won in Series B investments over three rounds. In addition to financial investors (FIs), it secured strategic investors (SIs) such as Pureun Technology and HisOne. Recently, ahead of its KOSDAQ listing, it has received interest from some large corporations. Furthermore, it is in contact with Singapore's taxi reservation app Grab. CUBox's technology is gradually permeating everyday life.

CEO Nam, who started his career as a developer, felt the weight of being a CEO when he founded his first company at age 28. After a second startup, he even became a credit defaulter. After such ups and downs, he embarked on his third startup and is now approaching the milestone of going public.

CUBox conducted a demand forecast for institutional investors on the 3rd and 4th of this month, with a total of 578 institutions participating, achieving a competition rate of 86.4 to 1, and set the public offering price at 15,000 won. Subsequently, subscription for general investors was held on the 9th and 10th. The lead underwriter for the listing is Shinhan Investment Corp., with SK Securities as joint underwriter and Shinyoung Securities as the manager.

CEO Nam revealed the vision, saying, "After listing on KOSDAQ, we will establish a more stable financial structure by improving sales structure through efficient management of B2G (business-to-government) projects such as airports and activating overseas subsidiaries, as well as expanding B2C services."