MiniMax surges 90% in Hong Kong debut after $619M IPO, beating rival Zhipu AI
11 Sources
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AI Firm MiniMax Set for Hong Kong Debut After $619 million IPO
MiniMax Group Inc., one of China's largest generative AI startups, is set to begin trading in Hong Kong after an initial public offering that raised $619 million. Backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, MiniMax is among the first of China's post-ChatGPT
[2]
China AI firm MiniMax set to surge in Hong Kong debut
SINGAPORE, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Chinese artificial intelligence model developer MiniMax Group (0100.HK), opens new tab is set to jump on its Hong Kong market debut on Friday after raising HK$4.82 billion ($618.6 million), extending a flurry of tech listings in the city. Shares of the company are set
[3]
MiniMax surges in Hong Kong debut, marking yet another Chinese AI listing
China-based AI startup MiniMax surged as much as 90% on its first day of trading in Hong Kong on Friday, becoming the second major Chinese developer of large language models to go public. The company raised HK$4.8 billion ($620 million) in its IPO, outperforming its local rival Zhipu AI, which had
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Baillie Gifford, GIC Are Said to Buy Shares in MiniMax's $619 Million Hong Kong IPO
Investment firm Baillie Gifford and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte are among those buying shares in MiniMax Group Inc.'s much-awaited HK$4.8 billion ($619 million) initial public offering in Hong Kong, according to people familiar with the matter. The Chinese artificial-intelligence
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Chinese AI unicorn MiniMax soars in Hong Kong debut
Shares in Chinese AI startup MiniMax soared as much as 78% as it went public in Hong Kong on Friday, raising US$619 million in a sign that strong investor demand is rewarding the country's rapidly developing sector. The debut rally came a day after rival Zhipu AI jumped 12% on its first day after
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Chinese AI unicorn MiniMax soars 109 percent in Hong Kong debut
Hong Kong (AFP) - Shares in Chinese AI startup MiniMax soared 109 percent as it went public in Hong Kong on Friday, raising US$619 million in a sign that strong investor demand is rewarding the country's rapidly developing sector. Rival firm Zhipu AI also saw gains, jumping 20.6 percent on its
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MiniMax raises $619M in Hong Kong IPO as investor appetite for generative AI remains strong - SiliconANGLE
MiniMax raises $619M in Hong Kong IPO as investor appetite for generative AI remains strong Chinese artificial intelligence startup MiniMax Group Ltd. went public in Hong Kong on Thursday local time and raised around $619 million, highlighting strong investor appetite for generative AI companies
[8]
Chinese AI unicorn MiniMax soars 109 percent in Hong Kong debut
Shares in Chinese AI startup MiniMax soared 109 percent as it went public in Hong Kong on Friday, raising US$619 million in a sign that strong investor demand is rewarding the country's rapidly developing sector. Friday's shares performance shows investors have a "strong appetite for China's tech
[9]
Startups go public in litmus test for Chinese AI
Chinese AI startup Zhipu AI surged over 12% in its Hong Kong debut, raising $558 million ahead of rival MiniMax's listing. But analysts said profits were unlikely any time soon from either company, the first two IPOs among China's so-called "six tigers", generative AI providers competing with tech
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China's AI startup MiniMax Group raises $619 million in Hong Kong IPO
Chinese artificial intelligence startup MiniMax Group said on Thursday it raised HK$4.82 billion ($618.60 million) in its Hong Kong initial public offering after pricing shares at HK$165 each. Chinese artificial intelligence startup MiniMax Group said on Thursday it raised HK$4.82 billion
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China AI firm MiniMax soars 50% in Hong Kong debut
SINGAPORE/HONG KONG, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Chinese artificial intelligence model developer MiniMax Group jumped 50% in its Hong Kong market debut on Friday after raising HK$4.8 billion ($620 million). Founded in early 2022 by former SenseTime executive Yan Junjie, Shanghai-based MiniMax develops AI
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Chinese generative AI startup MiniMax soared as much as 90% on its first trading day in Hong Kong after raising $619 million. The Alibaba-backed company outperformed rival Zhipu AI, which rose just 13% a day earlier. Institutional investors including Baillie Gifford and GIC bid over 70 times for available shares, signaling strong demand for China's AI sector despite the company's $186 million adjusted loss.
MiniMax Hong Kong IPO Delivers Explosive First-Day Gains
MiniMax Group Inc., one of China's largest generative AI startups, surged as much as 90% on its Hong Kong stock market debut Friday, significantly outpacing rival Zhipu AI's modest 13% gain just one day earlier
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. The Chinese AI startup raised HK$4.82 billion ($619 million) in its initial public offering, with shares opening at HK$235.40—42.3% above the offer price of HK$165 . By midday trading, shares reached HK$290.8, reflecting intense investor confidence in China's AI sector3
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Source: Reuters
The Alibaba-backed company sold 29.2 million shares at HK$165 apiece in an upsized offering that was priced at the top of its marketed range
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. This makes MiniMax among the first of China's post-ChatGPT generative AI firms to go public, and its stock performance serves as a critical test for whether enthusiasm in China's AI sector can extend beyond hardware makers to software-focused companies1
.Institutional Demand Signals Strong Market Appetite
The Hong Kong IPO attracted remarkable institutional interest, with investors bidding more than 70 times for shares available to them, excluding the cornerstone tranche
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. The deal received over 460 bids from institutions, with prominent investors including Baillie Gifford, Singapore's GIC Pte, Norway's Norges Bank Investment Management, and asset manager Schroders Plc among the buyers4
. Global long-only investors and sovereign wealth funds took up a majority of institutional shares, signaling broad confidence in the company's prospects despite posting an adjusted loss of approximately $186 million in the first nine months of 20251
.Both MiniMax and Zhipu AI are part of China's so-called "AI tigers"—startups building large language models to rival American AI giants like OpenAI, which they've now beaten to going public
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. The strong debut comes as Chinese AI-related firms ramp up fundraising efforts to compete with US rivals and navigate Washington's export curbs on advanced chips used for AI training3
.From Gaming Roots to AI Innovation
Founded in early 2022, Shanghai-based MiniMax has its roots in gaming and now boasts 200 million users across several applications including its flagship video generator Hailuo AI . Co-founder and CEO Yan Junjie, previously an executive at leading AI software company SenseTime, first noticed OpenAI in 2019 when its bots defeated the world's top human players in the battle-arena game Dota 2
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. This captivated him and prompted a career pivot from computer vision to natural language processing1
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Source: Bloomberg
Yan secured one of his first checks from Genshin Impact studio Mihoyo, whose founders focus on using AI to transform gaming. Mihoyo remains a key client
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. The company specializes in AI applications including chatbots, image generation, and video synthesis3
. Co-founder and COO Yun Yeyi told Bloomberg that MiniMax had only spent around $500 million to make optimization and creative innovations, noting "We focus more resources on building the models and product experience" .
Source: SiliconANGLE
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AI Sector Listings Reshape Hong Kong Market
The debut comes amid a wave of AI sector listings in Hong Kong, with about half of the 11 companies that have laid out plans to list in the city this month being AI companies
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. MiniMax's performance matters significantly for the broader market, as analysts watch whether investor enthusiasm can extend to software firms after hardware makers like Moore Threads Technology Co. and MetaX Integrated Circuits Shanghai Co. surged multifold on their first day of trade1
."It is still early in the China AI investment cycle compared to global peers, so it may be difficult for investors to identify winners and losers," said Marvin Chen, analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. "Performance may begin to become more differentiated as the cycle matures"
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.Backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Tencent Holdings, and Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund, MiniMax plans to use IPO proceeds for research and development over the next five years to develop foundation models and AI-native products
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. The company's team includes researchers who previously worked for tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, Alibaba, and DeepSeek .Market Outlook and Challenges Ahead
The large language model market in China is estimated to grow to 101.1 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) by 2030, according to consultancy Frost and Sullivan . International Data Corporation projects that AI will cumulatively contribute $19.9 trillion to the global economy through 2030 and drive 3.5% of global GDP in that year .
However, MiniMax faces challenges including a $75 million copyright lawsuit from Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. Discovery over its video-generating tool, though the firm maintains "there is insufficient evidence to support" the claims . The company must also navigate US export restrictions on advanced chips while competing with both domestic rivals and established American players like OpenAI and Anthropic
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