MADUP, Backed by $23M, Poised to Innovate AI Marketing Through Global Expansion

- MADUP speeds up its full-scale global market entry

SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MADUP is set to accelerate the global expansion of LEVER Xpert, its in-house-developed digital marketing AI agent, supported by a cumulative investment of $23M and planned KOSDAQ listing targeted for the first half of 2026.

MADUP is an AI-driven marketing company that creates business impact by combining performance-centered strategies, creative execution, and AI technological capabilities across all areas of performance, technology, branding, content, and CRM. Under the mission “For Your Innovative Growth”—creating clients’ growth based on data and technology—the company has built a strong track record across sectors, including beauty, fashion, finance, and O2O services, leading the growth of top-tier clients in Korea and abroad. Leveraging its creative expertise, MADUP broadened its service offerings from app marketing to integrated marketing communication (IMC) and branding, driving strong growth in global markets, such as Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, and Japan.

LEVER Xpert is a digital marketing AI agent that offers end-to-end support across all marketing stages, from data collection and analysis to operations. The solution is actively utilized in global marketing for Korean consumer goods companies, including K-beauty brands. By leveraging its integrated capabilities in marketing data analysis, planning, and operations, LEVER Xpert supports differentiated growth for clients. Using advertising operations data and precise AI analytics, the solution excels in analyzing advertising creatives, providing recommendations, automating operations, and proposing strategies, thereby optimizing client performance and supporting brand growth.

Based on this, the company supports marketing strategies of businesses operating in key markets, including the U.S., Europe, and Southeast Asia. With proven performance from reference cases across various industries, including K-beauty and other Korean consumer goods sectors, MADUP has conducted global marketing for major Korean companies—Samsung Electronics, Olive Young, MUSINSA, and MEDIHEAL—while also securing local clients in the U.S. These efforts are driving rapid progress in its market expansion.

While accelerating its global expansion, MADUP participated in the AI Innovation Accelerator (AIIA) program, offered in collaboration with NYU Stern School of Business, to develop its North American market strategy. Throughout the program, the company received practical support including: a local program based on tailored strategies and preliminary assessment by NYU faculty members and experts; webinars with local specialists; and local networking and partner meetings in New York. Additionally, MADUP joined conferences, such as beauty live conferences and KOOM 2025, to strengthen global outreach and promotion, laying a solid foundation for its local business expansion.

By 2022, MADUP attracted a cumulative $23M in investment (at a valuation of $175M) from Stonebridge Ventures, Praxis Capital Partners, IMM Investment, Krossroad Partners, and Shinhan Securities. Following its preliminary application for a KOSDAQ listing review in November 2025, the company is now working to establish a local corporation in New York by December 2025, heralding a full-scale global expansion. The company expects the listing process to be completed in the first half of 2026.

By participating in a specialized program for AI and digital business partnerships along with local networking in New York, the company is laying down the groundwork for its global expansion and will systematically strengthen its go-to-market fit.

Ju-min Lee and Erick Lee, co-CEOs of MADUP, said, “We will further speed up our global business expansion by leveraging LEVER Xpert’s proven market competitiveness and our global network. We will also strengthen partnerships with local clients and global companies to make LEVER Xpert the global standard for AI marketing solutions and lead the market.”