Via yicaiglobal.com
The Alibaba-backed generative AI startup, barely three years old, is eyeing public markets as Chinese AI firms flock to Hong Kong listings.
A Beijing-based AI company with fewer than 100 employees is reportedly weighing a public listing that could value it among the most ambitious generative AI IPOs in Asia. Shengshu Technology, the startup behind the Vidu AI video generation tool, is considering a Hong Kong IPO targeting at least $500 million in proceeds.
The move would cap a remarkably fast ascent for a company founded just over three years ago, in March 2023, by a team of researchers with ties to Tsinghua University. It also fits a broader pattern of Chinese AI startups choosing Hong Kong as their gateway to public capital markets.
From research lab to IPO candidate in record time #
Shengshu’s trajectory reads like a speedrun through the typical startup lifecycle. The company closed a Series A+ round exceeding RMB 600 million in February 2026, then followed up just two months later with a $293 million Series B led by Alibaba Cloud. That April round alone, denominated at RMB 2 billion, placed the company squarely in the upper tier of Chinese generative AI fundraises.
Baidu Ventures is also among the company’s backers, giving Shengshu connections to two of China’s largest tech ecosystems.
The company already maintains a Hong Kong-registered entity, ShengShu AI HK Limited, based in Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui. That corporate structure suggests the groundwork for a potential listing has been in the works for some time.
What Shengshu actually builds #
The startup’s core product, Vidu, is an AI-powered video and content generation tool. The difference Shengshu emphasizes is its research into what it calls “world model” AI, a framework that aims to combine multiple sensory modalities like vision and audio into more coherent, context-aware outputs.
What’s notable is how lean the operation remains. Shengshu reportedly runs with fewer than 100 employees while claiming strong user and revenue growth.
Hong Kong’s AI listing wave #
Shengshu isn’t making this move in isolation. Hong Kong has been actively courting Chinese technology companies, particularly after tightening US scrutiny made American exchanges less hospitable for some mainland firms.
For Alibaba Cloud, which led the most recent funding round, a successful listing would represent a quick return on investment and reinforce its strategy of backing foundational AI infrastructure and application companies across its ecosystem. Alibaba has been aggressively repositioning itself around AI after years of regulatory pressure dampened its broader ambitions. Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our