Corporate identity image of Apinit. [Apinit]
Corporate identity image of Apinit. [Apinit]

Apinit, a fintech company that operates the mobile financial platform True Balance in India, has launched the process for a Kosdaq listing. The company plans to use the initial public offering to accelerate its transition into a comprehensive financial platform and expand into overseas markets, as its operating profit for the first half of this year climbed more than 79 percent from a year earlier.

Apinit said Wednesday it had submitted a preliminary listing application to Korea Exchange. Mirae Asset Securities is serving as the lead underwriter, with Hana Securities participating as co-underwriter.

The company posted sales of 112.3 billion won ($81.3 million) and operating profit of 29.6 billion won in the first half of this year. Compared with the same period last year — when sales stood at 77 billion won and operating profit at 16.5 billion won — those figures represent increases of 45.8 percent and 79.4 percent, respectively. The operating profit margin was 26.4 percent.

The revenue growth trend has continued. Apinit's annual sales rose roughly 6.7-fold in four years, from 24.2 billion won in 2021 to 161.9 billion won last year. The company has recorded an underlying profit — excluding non-recurring gains and losses on derivative valuations — since 2022, and turned profitable on a K-IFRS basis last year.

Founded in 2014, Apinit operates True Balance, an AI-powered mobile financial platform, in India. The company changed its name from Balance Hero to its current form in October last year.

Its core competitive edge is a proprietary AI-based alternative credit scoring system, which evaluates creditworthiness using more than 90,000 alternative data points — even for customers with limited credit histories. True Balance, built on that system, has surpassed 120 million cumulative downloads, with a repeat-use rate of more than 90 percent.

Apinit plans to use the IPO as a springboard to expand both its financial product lineup and overseas operations. It has been broadening its scope beyond small-loan brokerage, adding insurance products in March and credit card brokerage services in July, as it builds out a comprehensive financial platform.

The company is also pushing into overseas markets. This month it signed MOUs with Shinhan Finance Vietnam and Lotte Finance Vietnam as it pursues entry into the Vietnamese market, with plans to extend its reach to Indonesia and other emerging markets thereafter.

"Over the past decade in India, Apinit has used data and AI technology to uncover the latent creditworthiness of customers who were difficult to assess through conventional financial records alone, and to deliver real financial services to them," said Chief Executive Lee Cheol-won. "We will use the Kosdaq listing as a launchpad to grow into a global innovative fintech company where no one, anywhere in the world, is left behind by finance."

Kosdaq has seen a steady stream of preliminary listing applications and new listings in recent months. According to Korea Exchange, companies including Apinit, Rideflux, Dongwon Parts, S-Tech System and Bumhan Mechatech have filed preliminary listing applications this month. Delicious, K&S I&C Technology, Ingenia Therapeutics, Gido Industrial and Nearas Lab also made their Kosdaq debuts this month, drawing attention to the momentum of the IPO market in the second half of the year.


hajun825@heraldcorp.com