South Korea’s fast-growing AI marketing firm MADUP is placing a bold wager on automation, analytics, and global scale. The company is accelerating the international rollout of LEVER Xpert, its in-house digital marketing AI agent, backed by $23 million in cumulative funding and a planned KOSDAQ listing in the first half of 2026.

At a time when marketers are under pressure to do more with less—optimize spend, personalize at scale, and prove ROI across fragmented channels—MADUP is positioning LEVER Xpert as an end-to-end AI solution designed to manage the entire marketing lifecycle. From data ingestion and analysis to execution and optimization, the platform aims to replace guesswork with automation and intelligence.

For MADUP, this isn’t just a product launch. It’s the backbone of a global expansion strategy that stretches from Korea to North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Japan.

From Performance Shop to Global AI Marketing Player

Founded with a mission it calls “For Your Innovative Growth,” MADUP has steadily evolved from a performance-focused app marketing firm into a full-stack digital marketing company. Today, its services span performance marketing, creative, branding, content, and CRM—an expansion driven by client demand for integrated strategies rather than siloed campaigns.

That shift mirrors a broader industry trend. As media buying, creative optimization, and customer data converge, agencies and platforms alike are racing to unify workflows under a single, AI-powered roof. MADUP’s answer is LEVER Xpert, a system built to connect data, planning, and operations in one loop.

The company has already built a strong reputation in Korea across sectors such as beauty, fashion, finance, and O2O services. Its client roster includes major names like Samsung Electronics, Olive Young, MUSINSA, and MEDIHEAL, giving MADUP both scale and credibility as it moves abroad.

What LEVER Xpert Actually Does—and Why It Matters

LEVER Xpert is positioned as a digital marketing AI agent, not just another analytics dashboard. According to MADUP, the platform provides end-to-end support across all stages of marketing, including:

• Collecting and unifying marketing and advertising data

• Analyzing campaign and creative performance using AI models

• Recommending optimizations and strategic adjustments

• Automating advertising operations and execution

• Supporting planning with data-backed insights

One of the platform’s differentiators is its focus on creative analysis. While many AI marketing tools concentrate on bidding or attribution, LEVER Xpert applies AI analytics to advertising creatives themselves—evaluating what works, why it works, and how to improve it. That’s especially relevant in verticals like K-beauty, where visual storytelling and rapid creative iteration are critical to performance.

The platform is already being used in global campaigns for Korean consumer brands, suggesting it’s battle-tested outside MADUP’s home market. That matters in a crowded AI martech landscape, where many tools promise automation but lack real-world proof across regions and industries.

Riding the Wave of AI-Driven Marketing Automation

MADUP’s timing is deliberate. Marketing AI is moving beyond experimentation into operational necessity. Brands are demanding systems that don’t just surface insights, but act on them—automatically, continuously, and across channels.

Rivals in the martech space, from global SaaS vendors to agency-built platforms, are chasing the same opportunity. What sets MADUP apart is its hybrid model: part marketing services company, part AI product developer. That combination allows LEVER Xpert to be refined using live campaign data and real client feedback, rather than theoretical use cases.

It’s a playbook that echoes how some of today’s largest martech platforms were built—starting as internal tools before scaling outward.

Cracking the US Market, One Program at a Time

To support its North American ambitions, MADUP participated in the AI Innovation Accelerator (AIIA) program, run in collaboration with NYU Stern School of Business. The program provided hands-on support, including market assessments by NYU faculty, strategy-focused webinars with local experts, and networking with potential partners in New York.

MADUP also increased its visibility through industry events, including beauty-focused live conferences and KOOM 2025, signaling a targeted approach to market entry rather than a broad, unfocused expansion.

This groundwork is now translating into concrete moves. The company plans to establish a local subsidiary in New York by December 2025, a step that typically signals long-term commitment rather than opportunistic growth.

Funding, Valuation, and the Road to IPO

MADUP’s expansion is underpinned by strong investor backing. By 2022, the company had raised $23 million at a reported valuation of $175 million, with participation from Stonebridge Ventures, Praxis Capital Partners, IMM Investment, Krossroad Partners, and Shinhan Securities.

In November 2025, MADUP filed a preliminary application for a KOSDAQ listing review, with expectations to complete the IPO process in the first half of 2026. If successful, the listing would provide both capital and visibility—fueling further R&D and global market penetration for LEVER Xpert.

For investors, the appeal is clear: AI-driven marketing platforms with proven enterprise use cases are among the most closely watched segments in B2B tech, particularly as brands shift budgets toward performance accountability and automation.

Aiming to Set a Global Standard

MADUP’s leadership is clear about its ambitions. Co-CEOs Ju-min Lee and Erick Lee say the company plans to accelerate global expansion by leveraging LEVER Xpert’s market-tested capabilities and an expanding international network. The ultimate goal: position LEVER Xpert as a global standard for AI marketing solutions.

That’s an ambitious claim in a market dominated by well-funded global players. But MADUP’s combination of real-world performance data, creative intelligence, and international client traction gives it a credible shot—especially as brands look for AI tools that go beyond dashboards and actually drive growth.

As AI continues to reshape how marketing is planned, executed, and measured, MADUP is betting that LEVER Xpert can move from a competitive advantage to a category-defining platform.

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