Moonshot AI, the company behind the Kimi chatbot, is preparing for a Hong Kong initial public offering after completing a final pre-IPO funding round that valued the Chinese artificial intelligence group at about $50 billion, Bloomberg reported on Oct. 6. The prospective deal would place Moonshot among the largest AI listings Hong Kong has seen and test public-market appetite for fast-growing Chinese model developers at premium valuations.
Bloomberg reported that Moonshot has begun sounding out market interest and could start early discussions with potential buyers this month. The company has confidentially filed a Hong Kong listing application, according to the report, with Bank of America acting as overall coordinator. China International Capital Corp., Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs are listed as sponsors.
The reported $50 billion valuation marks a sharp increase from roughly $10 billion about a year earlier. That fivefold rise tracks rapid reported revenue growth at Kimi, whose chatbot has become one of China’s better-known consumer-facing AI products.
Moonshot’s valuation would demand continued revenue expansion after listing. Bloomberg reported that annual recurring revenue, a measure that annualizes subscription and contracted revenue, rose from about $300 million in June to approximately $1 billion more recently. Management expects that figure could reach $2 billion by December, according to the report.
At $1 billion in annual recurring revenue, the reported valuation would equal about 50 times sales. Even if Moonshot reaches its projected $2 billion figure, the multiple would remain about 25 times sales. Such pricing gives the company little room for a slowdown in commercial adoption, particularly as Chinese AI developers spend heavily on computing capacity, model training and product distribution.
A premium benchmark for Chinese AI developers
A comparison in the material illustrates the valuation threshold Moonshot is seeking to establish. Zhipu was valued at about HK$313.4 billion in intraday trading on Oct. 6, equivalent to roughly 22 times price-to-sales based on interim annual recurring revenue of about RMB1.8 billion.
The comparison is imperfect because public-market valuations move daily and companies may recognize revenue differently. Yet it indicates that Moonshot’s private valuation is already pricing in a substantial leadership position, supported by the company’s expectation that Kimi can convert consumer usage and enterprise demand into recurring revenue at speed.
The timing also puts Moonshot into a crowded but increasingly active Hong Kong technology market. KPMG said Hong Kong hosted 116 IPOs in the first three quarters of the year, raising more than HK$388 billion. That was more than twice the amount raised during the same period a year earlier and the highest nine-month total on record, according to the accounting firm’s third-quarter review.
KPMG counted more than 600 active listing applications in the city’s pipeline and said full-year IPO proceeds could reach HK$500 billion. Such a result would exceed Hong Kong’s previous annual fundraising record of HK$427 billion, set in 2010.
High-technology companies, including AI, semiconductor and robotics groups, accounted for more than half of the funds raised during the period, KPMG said. Nineteen specialist technology companies listed through Hong Kong’s Chapter 18C framework and raised HK$36.2 billion, compared with eight listings combined over the preceding three years.
That pipeline offers Moonshot a market where specialist technology valuations have gained acceptance, but it also means a larger supply of growth companies competing for capital. The company’s eventual pricing and post-listing performance would be watched closely by other Chinese AI groups considering a public offering.
Kling AI adds another large listing candidate
Moonshot is not the only Chinese AI company moving toward Hong Kong’s equity market. Bloomberg also reported on Oct. 6 that Kwai Technology is advancing a separate listing plan for Kling AI, its video-generation unit.
Kling AI is working with CICC, Goldman Sachs and UBS, and could seek a listing as early as next year, Bloomberg reported. The unit is targeting fundraising of at least $1 billion. It completed a $2.8 billion financing round in July at a pre-money valuation of about $15 billion, according to the report.
A standalone Kling listing would give public-market buyers a more direct route to a company developing AI video tools, rather than exposure through Kwai’s broader short-video and online-services business. Bloomberg said Chinese video-generation providers, including Kling AI, have competed for market share after OpenAI shut down Sora.
Kwai’s stock performance may shape how the market approaches any separation. Its shares closed at HK$66.25 on the first trading day of 2026 and at HK$30.18 on Oct. 6, a decline of about 54%. A Kling IPO could offer Kwai an opportunity to establish a separate market value for an AI asset that may be obscured within its parent company’s larger operations.
Mainland flows support Hong Kong AI shares
Southbound Stock Connect buying has become a major source of demand for Hong Kong-listed technology companies. Wind data showed year-to-date net southbound inflows of HK$428.203 billion as of Sept. 28, while the value of related holdings reached about HK$6.02 trillion as of Sept. 29.
Zhipu was the top net-buy target in the cited period, attracting HK$40.021 billion, followed by MINIMAX-W with HK$11.411 billion, according to Wind. Once eligible for Stock Connect, newly listed AI companies could tap the same channel, though eligibility depends on index inclusion and other program requirements.
For Moonshot, that potential demand is one reason Hong Kong offers more than a conventional exit for early shareholders. The city can connect mainland Chinese capital with international institutions and provide a public valuation benchmark for a sector where private funding rounds have risen quickly. Its proposed IPO will now depend on whether reported revenue growth can justify a valuation that already assumes Kimi will remain among China’s leading commercial AI platforms.
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