[IPO] Airrain "The Only Domestic Gas Separation Membrane Company... Aiming to Become Global No.1"

"Airrain, as the only domestic company specializing in gas separation membrane solutions, will grow into a leading global provider of eco-friendly energy solutions."

On the 21st, Ha Sung-yong, CEO of Airrain, the only domestic company specializing in gas separation membrane solutions, held a press conference in Yeouido, Seoul, outlining the company's future strategies and vision following its KOSDAQ listing.

Airrain was established in March 2001 and is the only company in Korea that develops, manufactures, and sells gas separation membrane products using polymer-based hollow fibers. The company possesses technology that selectively separates gases such as nitrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide through its self-developed gas separation membranes, and is gaining attention in the global market due to its advanced technology and mass production capabilities.

Gas separation membranes are products that allow mixed gases to pass through modules composed of hundreds of thousands of hollow fibers roughly the thickness of a human hair, enabling the separation of desired gases. This technology offers advantages such as ease of selectively separating various gases like nitrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide, low installation and maintenance costs, and the ability to design modules in various sizes tailored to specific applications. Based on this technology, Airrain has successfully commercialized nitrogen-generating gas separation membranes and is expanding its business into various fields such as biogas upgrading and carbon dioxide capture.

Since its first commercialization in the 1970s, gas separation membrane technology remains a highly sophisticated technology developed and manufactured by only a few companies worldwide. The manufacturing process requires high technical expertise, and the material synthesis technology for selective gas separation demands the highest level of specialization even within the chemical field. Airrain has overcome these technical barriers, secured world-class gas separation membrane material synthesis technology, and achieved efficiency and cost competitiveness in mass production processes.

In particular, Airrain's gas separation membrane products outperform global competitors in both performance and price competitiveness. For example, its 6-inch nitrogen gas separation membrane is priced at about 80% of that of global competitors, while delivering 50% higher nitrogen generation and 4 percentage points higher manufacturing efficiency. This product operates stably even under high temperature and high pressure conditions and demonstrates superior performance compared to equivalent products from global companies ranked number one in worldwide sales. Additionally, by adopting a continuous production system, Airrain offers faster delivery times than competitors, further strengthening its competitiveness within the industry and solidifying trust with its customers based on differentiated technology.

Airrain has cultivated the capability to continuously innovate technologically and flexibly respond to market changes and customer demands through long-term accumulated R&D know-how and systematic data management. Building on this foundation, the company has expanded its business beyond nitrogen generation solutions to include biogas upgrading solutions, CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage), and Blue Hydrogen (Blue H2) solutions, laying the groundwork for future growth. These solutions require highly advanced technologies that even global conglomerates find challenging during R&D. Airrain has proactively developed these technologies by applying its core gas separation membrane technology and has successfully delivered equipment and installed systems for various clients.

Airrain's advanced technology has been recognized by leading domestic conglomerates such as Lotte Chemical, Halla, POSCO, and SK, securing them as strategic investors (SI). With the long-term growth of the gas separation membrane market anticipated due to strengthened ESG regulations and policy expansion, Airrain continues to collaborate steadily with various prominent companies and local governments to drive technological innovation.

This core competitiveness is reflected in steady sales growth. Airrain's sales reached 16.3 billion KRW last year, a 26.3% increase from 13 billion KRW the previous year, and the average sales growth rate over the past three years was 65.3%. To meet the increasing demand for gas separation membranes, Airrain is expanding production facilities and developing new businesses, expecting continuous sales growth through these efforts.

For sustainable growth, Airrain is expanding its business into eco-friendly energy solutions such as biogas upgrading and carbon dioxide capture (CCUS). Biogas upgrading is a process that separates and concentrates methane from biogas generated at food waste sites, sewage treatment plants, and landfills to produce high-concentration biomethane. Airrain's gas separation membrane technology has succeeded in increasing methane purity to over 95%, comparable to natural gas, thereby maximizing the utilization of eco-friendly energy resources.

Additionally, responding to societal demands for greenhouse gas emission reductions, Airrain has secured innovative technology for capturing CO₂ from post-combustion exhaust gases through years of R&D (CCUS, Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage), promoting sustainable growth. Unlike traditional absorption or adsorption methods, Airrain's CO₂ capture system using gas separation membranes offers excellent spatial efficiency and can be easily applied to various industrial sites such as power plants, steel mills, and petrochemical factories. Through collaborations with major companies like Lotte Chemical, Korea District Heating Corporation, and POSCO, Airrain plays a vital role in achieving carbon neutrality.

Airrain is also pursuing new businesses including ionomer recycling and liquefied carbon dioxide (LCO₂) sales. Ionomers are polymers that transport hydrogen ions and play a crucial role in hydrogen fuel cells and ESS systems. Recently, regulations restricting the use of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) containing fluorine have been strengthened mainly in the US and Europe, leading major global producers of PFSA ionomers to announce production halts. Recognizing this market shift as both an opportunity and a challenge, Airrain plans to recover waste ionomers from end-of-life or defective fuel cells and water electrolysis membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) to produce and sell regenerated ionomers. The company has completed both demonstration at the research stage and preparations for mass production. Upon successful mass production, Airrain expects to maximize sustainable resource utilization and strengthen its competitiveness in the ionomer market.

Moreover, Airrain is preparing a new business to liquefy carbon dioxide captured through gas separation membranes to a purity of over 99.9%, producing dry ice or directly supplying and selling in the LCO₂ market. This business model aims to provide high value-added eco-friendly energy solutions by integrally operating CO₂ capture and liquefaction generated within the hydrogen economy ecosystem, combined with biogas upgrading technology.

Airrain plans to use the funds raised from this public offering for R&D investments to develop new businesses such as ionomer recycling and liquefied carbon dioxide distribution, as well as for facility expansion to maintain competitiveness in the gas separation membrane market. Through these efforts, the company intends to continue providing various eco-friendly energy solutions centered on gas separation membrane technology and establish a foundation for sustainable growth. In particular, as demand for gas separation membrane products diversifies and business areas expand, Airrain completed doubling its hollow fiber production lines at its headquarters to six lines last year. This year, it plans to double the production lines again to 12 and has acquired a new factory for module assembly, aiming to complete construction by November and commence full-scale mass production, thereby doubling production capacity once more.

Ha Sung-yong, CEO of Airrain, stated, "The company is expanding its business areas diversely through continuous R&D of gas separation membranes, including biogas upgrading and carbon dioxide capture. Moving forward, we will focus on advancing gas separation membrane technology to expand eco-friendly energy solutions for a sustainable future and create high value-added outcomes."

Meanwhile, Airrain plans to offer 1.2 million shares in this public offering. The desired offering price ranges from 16,000 to 18,500 KRW per share, with a total offering amount between 19.2 billion and 22.2 billion KRW, and an expected market capitalization of 130.8 billion to 151.2 billion KRW. The demand forecast will be conducted over five days until today, followed by general subscription on the 24th and 25th, aiming for a KOSDAQ listing within November. Shin Young Securities is the lead underwriter for the listing.