News linked to both this project and an event.
: AI startup Moonshot AI is seeking to raise up to $2 billion in a new funding round, which would value the company at $30 billion. Moonshot AI has already entered early-stage talks with potential investors and plans to raise over $1 billion. Meanwhile, the company is nearing the completion of a funding round led by Meituan, which values it at $2 billion.As of April, Moonshot AI's annualized recurring revenue had exceeded $200 million, driven by increased demand for its Kimi chatbot and large language model. Additionally, the company is dismantling its offshore structure to pave the way for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, and plans to establish a joint venture structure to allow foreign capital to participate. The company recently launched Kimi Work, a general-purpose AI agent based on its K2.6 series model. (Bloomberg)
According to LatePost, Kimi, a product of Moonshot AI, is about to complete a new round of financing worth $2 billion, pushing its post-money valuation beyond $20 billion. This round is led by Meituan Longzhu, with participation from China Mobile and CPE Capital; Meituan Longzhu’s investment exceeds $200 million. The report notes that, including three financing rounds already completed in January and February this year, Kimi has raised over $3.9 billion in less than six months—more than RMB 3.76 billion in total—making it one of the most well-funded large-model startups. The article also mentions that in April, Kimi released and open-sourced its new model K2.6, enhancing its programming and Agent cluster capabilities.
The immediate trigger for this regulatory tightening was Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of Manus—a China-founded AI agent company—after which relevant authorities ordered the deal’s reversal and launched a systematic review of the “domestically operated, offshore-registered” corporate model. Dismantling a red-chip structure is procedurally complex, typically taking six months to one year and involving multiple steps—including repurchasing offshore equity, establishing a joint venture, and having investors re-invest. Moreover, shares of such joint ventures listed in Hong Kong are subject to a 12-month lock-up period—twice as long as that for ordinary red-chip stocks. Analysts note that if red-chip structures face comprehensive restrictions, Chinese startups’ ability to raise U.S. dollar funding from overseas will be significantly weakened.
According to traders, DeepSeek’s recent open fundraising initiative is primarily driven by severe talent attrition. Several core researchers have successively departed, joining ByteDance, Tencent, Xiaomi, and autonomous driving company Yunruilink. Meanwhile, competitors Zhipu AI and MiniMax have already listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and Moonshot raised funding in three consecutive rounds during the first quarter of this year, with its valuation more than quadrupling since the end of last year.