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Moonshot AI Reportedly Completes Pre-IPO Funding Round: Valued at Around $50 Billion, Plans Hong Kong IPO in Q1 Next ...
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According to a Bloomberg report on October 6, people familiar with the matter revealed that Chinese artificial intelligence company Moonshot AI has completed its final pre-IPO funding round, with a valuation of approximately $50 billion, equivalent to about 335.7 billion yuan. The company plans to conduct its initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong in the first quarter of 2026, with the size of the fundraising being closely watched by the market. Related preparations are currently still underway. Some people familiar with the matter stated that the company has initiated preliminary communications with investors and will hold pre-marketing meetings as early as this month to gauge the sentiment of the capital markets.
Moonshot AI was founded in early 2023, is headquartered in Beijing, and was founded by Yang Zhilin. Yang Zhilin was formerly a professor at Tsinghua University and had previously worked at Meta Platforms and Alphabet, the parent company of Google. Alibaba, Tencent, and 5Y Capital are all investors in the company, making it one of the most prominent companies in China's AI sector.
After multiple rounds of funding, Moonshot AI's valuation has continued to climb. When the previous round of funding was completed this past summer, its valuation stood at $31.5 billion. People familiar with the matter revealed that the company's annual recurring revenue (ARR) has currently reached $1 billion and is expected to climb to $2 billion by December; whereas Bloomberg reported in June of this year that the figure was $300 million at that time.
In terms of IPO preparations, people familiar with the matter stated that this IPO aims to raise up to $5 billion. The company has appointed Bank of America as the overall coordinator, with sponsor banks including China International Capital Corporation (CICC), Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs, and has already submitted its IPO application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on a confidential basis.
In terms of business performance, in July of this year, Moonshot AI released the Kimi K3 open-source large model on the global stage, and on multiple benchmark evaluation metrics, it can nearly rival the flagship models of OpenAI and Anthropic. As a result, its IPO has become one of the most anticipated deal projects in the Hong Kong stock market. At present, AI-driven new stock fundraising activities are setting record after record in Hong Kong.
However, the listing process still faces regulatory uncertainties. According to a report by The Information, regulatory authorities have launched data security investigations into DeepSeek and Moonshot AI, as the domestic AI industry faces stricter regulation. It remains unclear what impact the changes in the regulatory environment will have on the company's valuation and IPO timeline, and concerns about corporate governance and security have also risen in the market.
People familiar with the matter stated that all arrangements are still under discussion and the IPO timeline remains subject to change. If the deal ultimately proceeds as planned, it could become an important benchmark for the AI sector on the Hong Kong stock exchange, further influencing the pace at which subsequent technology companies list in Hong Kong.
