Is There a Reason for Clobot's Decline After Attracting 5 Trillion Won in IPO Subscriptions?

Service Robot Software Developer Clobot
Attracts Subscription Deposits of 5.057 Trillion Won
Expected to Impact Year-End IPO Market

Klobot, which raised as much as 5 trillion won in deposits from general investors during its initial public offering (IPO) subscription for listing on the KOSDAQ market, plunged sharply on its first day of trading. IPO investors did not even get a chance to recover their principal. This is expected to impact the year-end IPO market as well.

According to the financial investment industry on the 29th, Klobot closed at 10,070 won, down 22.54% from the offering price, on the first day of listing on the KOSDAQ market on the 28th. It started trading at 12,500 won, below the offering price, and continued trading below the offering price. The trading volume that day was 23.32 million shares, similar to the issued shares of 23.94 million.

Founded in 2017, Klobot is a service robot software developer. It succeeded in commercializing the first domestic universal autonomous driving solution and robot control solution for indoor autonomous driving robots. It supplies to over 130 clients. It has attracted cumulative investments worth 32 billion won from Hyundai Motor Group Zero One, Naver D2SF, Lotte Ventures, and others. In the first half of this year, it recorded cumulative sales of 11.6 billion won and an operating loss of 5.9 billion won.

Mirae Asset Securities, the lead underwriter, selected four comparable companies?Robostar, Raontech, V1 Tech, and Russell?to estimate Klobot’s corporate value. They applied the average price-earnings ratio (PER) of 39.6 times to Klobot’s estimated net profit for 2026 discounted to present value. The corporate value was calculated at 366.3 billion won, with a per-share valuation of 14,576 won. Applying a discount rate of 25.2% to 35.5% to the valuation, the proposed offering price range was 9,400 to 10,900 won.

From the 7th to the 14th, Klobot’s demand forecast competition rate among institutional investors was 934 to 1. Among 100 institutions, 95 proposed a subscription price of 13,000 won or higher.

Just before the demand forecast, Klobot signed a strategic partnership with Boston Dynamics. It was decided that Klobot would handle distribution and solution supply for Boston Dynamics’ representative quadruped robot, 'Spot'. Klobot plans to supply Spot to various domestic industrial sites in manufacturing, logistics, construction, and public safety sectors.

Boston Dynamics expected that with Klobot’s capabilities, it would introduce a wider range of Boston Dynamics robots beyond Spot to Korea and expand its business.

Supported by the backing of the global robotics company Boston Dynamics, the demand forecast was a hit, and the enthusiasm continued through the general investor subscription. The general subscription competition rate reached 1,037 to 1. The deposit, which requires prepayment of half the order amount, was recorded at 5.057 trillion won.

Contrary to the high expectations before listing, the stock price plunged sharply on the first day. Klobot appears to have been affected by the recent weak trend of new stocks in the domestic stock market. Aggressive performance targets and the application of a high PER raised doubts about the appropriateness of the offering price.

Yoon Cheol-hwan, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, explained, "This year’s target is sales of 38.1 billion won and an operating loss of 1.8 billion won," adding, "It is somewhat aggressive compared to the first half sales of 11.6 billion won."

Nam Ju-shin, a researcher at DB Financial Investment, analyzed, "Klobot is rapidly increasing selling and administrative expenses due to the expansion of excellent R&D personnel, executive recruitment, and production facilities," and added, "It plans to turn profitable through sales price increases via export commencement and new product launches, as well as cost reduction by internalizing parts."

An investment banking (IB) industry official advised, "Considering the recent trend of new stock prices, uncertainty about large-scale IPOs in the second half will increase," and said, "Since the overall domestic stock market remains sluggish, a conservative approach is necessary when considering IPO investments."