ENKI WhiteHat Passes KOSDAQ Listing Review... SV Investment's Forecast of Rising "Security Breaches" Proves Right

White-hat hacking firm 'ENKI WhiteHat' passes preliminary KOSDAQ listing review
SV Investment foresaw rise in security breaches... invested in 2023

White-hat hacking firm ENKI WhiteHat has passed the preliminary review for a KOSDAQ listing and is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO). The outlook of SV Investment, which decided to invest in anticipation of a rise in cyber security breaches, is becoming reality.

According to the Korea Exchange's KOSDAQ Market Division on October 12, ENKI WhiteHat passed the preliminary listing review on October 7 after deliberation and approval by the KOSDAQ Listing Committee. The company plans to list 10,598,414 shares, including 1.7 million shares to be offered to the public. Shinyoung Securities is the lead underwriter.

ENKI WhiteHat specializes in white-hat hacking. White-hat hackers are experts who proactively identify and address security vulnerabilities in systems and defend against hacking attacks.

SV Investment, which recognized ENKI WhiteHat's growth potential, led an investment in the company in 2023. Lee Seong-min, a senior team leader at SV Investment who spearheaded the search for and investment in the company, cited an expected increase in security breaches as the basis for the investment. "At the time of the investment, the cyber attack surface was expanding rapidly, and we expected breaches to continue rising across all industries," he said. "We concluded that Korea needed a leading company capable of proactively preventing them."

With AI-based hacking incidents continuing to occur, cyber security is emerging as an important industry. According to market research firm Fortune Business Insights, the global cyber security market is projected to grow from $248.28 billion in 2026 to $699.39 billion by 2034, representing a compound annual growth rate of 13.8%.

The company's strong performance in competitions including DEF CON CTF, a hacking defense contest held at the world's largest hacking conference, was a decisive factor in the investment. "We invested after taking note of the company's capabilities, demonstrated by its consistent high rankings at DEF CON, widely regarded as the world's most prestigious hacking competition," Lee said.

Amid growing demand for cyber security, ENKI WhiteHat has drawn on its hackers' expertise to successfully develop solutions. Its flagship offerings include an attack surface management (ASM) solution and OpeN, an AI-powered penetration testing solution. The ASM solution continuously detects a company's externally exposed assets and vulnerabilities, while OpeN uses AI to recreate hacker attack scenarios and proactively test for vulnerabilities.

The company is growing on the strength of its commercialized solutions. Revenue last year totaled KRW 14.2 billion, up 78% from the previous year, while operating profit reached KRW 3.5 billion, a 3.6-fold increase. According to its securities registration statement, as of June 30, 2026, its order backlog stood at KRW 13.4 billion, and revenue for this year is projected to reach KRW 24.2 billion.

With the funds raised through its listing, ENKI WhiteHat plans to focus on enhancing its AI hacking solutions and expanding its global customer base. It also plans to broaden its business into cyber defense, including anti-drone solutions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.