Kimi's valuation jumped by $500 million in a month, as investors flock to China's AI pre-IPO targets

One of China's "Six Little Dragons" in AI, Moonshot AI, is undergoing a new round of financing.

On January 19th, according to CNBC citing informed sources, the Chinese artificial intelligence startup Moonshot AI has reached a valuation of $4.8 billion in its new round of financing, an increase of $500 million from its valuation a month ago.

The direct catalyst for the valuation jump comes from the public market performance of its peers. Earlier this year, the stock prices of Chinese AI companies KNOWLEDGE ATLAS and MiniMax surged after their listings in Hong Kong.

(MiniMax has risen nearly 10%, while KNOWLEDGE ATLAS has soared 70%)

Analysts believe that as the listing paths for domestic AI companies in China have been validated, international and local venture capitalists are competing to secure investment positions before the next batch of companies goes public, driving up the valuation levels of leading targets.

The Primary Market Reacts

The rapid adjustment of Moonshot AI's valuation stems from investors' enthusiasm for Chinese AI pre-IPO targets.

Reports cite informed sources stating that seeing the impressive performance of comparable companies in the Hong Kong stock market, investors quickly reassessed Kimi's value. Due to strong subscription demand, this round of financing is expected to close soon.

They added that given the surge in market interest in potential Chinese AI public companies, the company's valuation in subsequent rounds may further climb.

Although competitors have already knocked on the capital market's door, founder Yang Zhilin has demonstrated strong strategic composure. At a recent AI industry summit and internal communications, he clearly stated: Moonshot AI is currently not in a hurry to advance the IPO process.

Yang Zhilin previously revealed that the company currently holds over 10 billion RMB in sufficient cash reserves, allowing Moonshot AI to maintain its pace in the long run.

He believes that the competition for large models is far from entering the second half, and the current focus should be on the research and development of the next generation of inference models (K3 series) and the expansion of underlying computing power clusters, with the goal of achieving a leap in intelligent limits.

According to previous reports, Moonshot AI attracted participation from well-known institutions such as IDG Capital, Alibaba Group, and Tencent Holdings in its financing last December