Another interesting IPO on the horizon?
Even though OpenAI won't go public this year and Anthropic desperately needs money, other AI IPOs are being prepared for 2027. And this time it's not a US company.
Chinese AI lab Moonshot AI closed its last private funding round at a valuation of about $50 billion and is heading for a Hong Kong listing. The initial public offering could take place in Q1 2027. The company would like to raise up to $5 billion.
Moonshot is behind the chatbot Kimi. It gained wider recognition in July with the Kimi K3 model, an open model that comes close to the top of OpenAI and Anthropic on some metrics.
The valuation has risen steeply recently, because as recently as this summer an investment round took place at a $31.5 billion valuation. However, the business is growing at a similar pace, so the valuation might not be as far from the truth as it very likely will be for Anthropic.
Annual recurring revenue (ARR) grew from $300 million in June to the current $1 billion and is expected to reach $2 billion by December. Shareholders include companies like $BABA, $TCEHY and fund 5Y Capital. The main coordinator of the transaction is Bank of America $BAC. The company has already filed a confidential IPO application.
The valuation therefore corresponds to roughly 25 times the target ARR. However, the main risk here is regulation, because according to The Information, Chinese authorities have launched an investigation into data security at Moonshot and DeepSeek.
Would you invest in Chinese AI competition? Oh, sorry, correction... in SI :)