Ateam Ventures, the 'Optical Illusion' of a 7.5-fold Sales Increase... The Crisis of a 2.5 Billion Won Deficit Hidden by Intangible Asset Capitalization and Workforce Reductions

Warning lights have flashed over the financial health of Ateam Ventures, led by CEO Ko San, who is well known to the public as South Korea's first spaceflight participant. Following his astronaut training in Russia, CEO Ko San opened his eyes to entrepreneurship while studying at Harvard University and Singularity University in Silicon Valley, and founded Ateam Ventures with the goal of popularizing 3D printers and digitally transforming (DX) South Korea's manufacturing ecosystem. He recently revealed ambitions to provide a transparent and convenient manufacturing project environment by massively updating the online manufacturing platform CAPA, but contrary to this glamorous vision, signs of a crisis are being detected behind the 2025 performance.

Profitability Deterioration Behind the Sales Increase

Ateam Ventures' sales in 2025 surged to 2.31 billion won, an approximately 7.5-fold increase compared to 310 million won in 2024. The operating loss also appeared to have significantly narrowed from -3.07 billion won in 2024 to -790 million won in 2025. However, the 'cost of sales' also skyrocketed to 2.07 billion won, causing the gross profit margin to shrink from the 36% range down to the 10% range. This suggests the possibility that the company shifted its business model to low-margin simple product distribution, brokerage, or a short-term business aimed at inflating the top-line, rather than the advancement of the innovative proprietary platform that CEO Ko San has been advocating.

Above all, the dramatic reduction in operating deficit is analyzed to be due to a typical accounting stopgap measure that makes immediate losses appear smaller. This is because the 'development costs' item among intangible assets within non-current assets increased from 1.08 billion won in 2024 to 2.77 billion won in 2025.

The balance of development costs within intangible assets increased by about 1.69 billion won in 2025 compared to 2024. If this amount had been fully expensed as selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses (ordinary development costs) as in previous years, the operating loss in 2025 would revert to a level of -2.5 billion won, rather than approximately -790 million won. This is similar to the deficit ranges the company has recorded in the past years of 2022 to 2024. If the capitalized development project fails to generate actual revenue, this 2.77 billion won will be written off all at once as an 'impairment loss (expense)' in the future, causing a massive net loss and leading to capital erosion.

In fact, looking at the scenario, if only 15% of the development cost balance were treated as SG&A expenses (ordinary development costs) as before, it would result in capital erosion.

85% Evaporation of Salaries and Wages... The Backbone of the IT Company is Shaking

The core asset of an IT and platform venture company is undoubtedly its 'manpower'. However, looking at Ateam Ventures' income statement, 'salaries and wages', which were about 1.46 billion won in 2024, plummeted by a staggering 85% to 220 million won in 2025. This strongly suggests that, leaving only executives or minimal management staff, virtually almost all employees have resigned (or been advised to resign).

The fact that labor costs have evaporated by 85% means there is a complete absence of working-level staff to handle service maintenance, advancement, and new sales. Therefore, it raises concerns over whether the currently recorded sales of 2.31 billion won represent a sustainable business model for next year and the year after, rather than being a one-off event. This decrease in labor costs can actually be confirmed through workforce fluctuation data, where the number of employees, which approached 40 in 2023, has plummeted to 5 as of March 2026.

Prolongation of Borrowing Structure (Debt Profiling) and Poor Liquidity

A look at the qualitative change in the company's debt (Debt Profiling) makes the sense of a liquidity crisis even clearer. While current liabilities, which are short-term debts, decreased from 1.37 billion won to 450 million won, non-current liabilities, which are long-term debts, surged from 760 million won to 2.08 billion won.

Particularly noteworthy is that 800 million won in convertible bonds (CB) and 1.17 billion won in long-term borrowings were newly recognized under non-current liabilities. It appears that the immediate fire was put out by refinancing short-term borrowings through newly attracted long-term bonds and long-term borrowings. As of the end of 2025, cash and cash equivalents were a mere 350 million won, whereas the size of net debt requiring interest payments rose to a staggering 1.98 billion won.

CEO Ko San previously inspired many with his lecture, "Shoot for the moon; even if you miss, you will land among the stars." However, Ateam Ventures' current financial statements show a rocket that has lost the thrust to reach the stars. The performance improvement in 2025 is closer to an 'optical illusion' that reduced the on-book deficit scale through the capitalization of development costs and the prolongation of debt, rather than substantial growth. With the practical workforce, which can be considered the company's engine, having evaporated en masse, market concerns are growing over whether CEO Ko San can truly achieve the innovation of South Korea's manufacturing ecosystem he promised.