The archive · AI & Models · Product decision · 2022–2026
MiniMax bets consumer AI apps go global; HK IPO valued up to HKD 50B
Ex-SenseTime VP Yan Junjie's MiniMax wrapped models in consumer apps like Hailuo, grew revenue 9x in a year, and filed a HK IPO at up to HKD 50.4B.
MiniMax Group（稀宇科技）
What the business is
Shanghai AI lab building multimodal foundation models (MiniMax M2, Hailuo, Speech) and consumer apps including Hailuo AI and Talkie, plus an enterprise developer platform.
Starting capital：Tencent led an over-$250M Series A; Alibaba led a $600M Series B; near-$300M round in July 2025 at a post-money valuation above $4B
How it started
MiniMax was founded in early 2022 in Shanghai by Yan Junjie, born in 1989 and formerly a vice president at SenseTime. It was among the first wave of Chinese LLM companies, betting that general-purpose multimodal models could be built in China and that the winners would be the ones who wrapped them in AI-native products consumers actually use.
What happened
MiniMax raised a Tencent-led Series A of over $250 million and an Alibaba-led Series B of $600 million, with backers including Hillhouse, IDG, Yunqi, Mingshi and miHoYo. Revenue grew from $3.5M in 2023 to $30.5M in 2024 and $53.4M in the first nine months of 2025 (up 174.7% year on year), with overseas markets accounting for over 70% of revenue and more than 212 million individual users across over 200 countries. It remained unprofitable: net losses of $269M in 2023, $465M in 2024, and $512M in the first nine months of 2025.
How it ended up
MiniMax passed the HKEX hearing in December 2025 and launched its Hong Kong IPO at up to HKD165 per share for a valuation of up to HKD50.4 billion (about $6.5 billion), with 14 cornerstone investors including Alibaba, Aspex, Eastspring, Mirae Asset and E Fund subscribing about HKD2.7 billion; the listing was targeted for Jan 9, 2026.
Background
MiniMax's bet was that China's AI wave would be won by companies that ship AI-native consumer products, not just model APIs. Founded in Shanghai in early 2022 by Yan Junjie, a former SenseTime vice president born in 1989, it built multimodal foundation models — MiniMax M2, Hailuo 2.3, Speech 2.6 and Music 2.0 — and wrapped them in consumer apps: Hailuo AI for video generation, Talkie for character chat, plus MiniMax Audio and Xingye.
The company raised a Tencent-led Series A of over $250 million and an Alibaba-led $600 million Series B, then a near-$300 million round in July 2025 at a post-money valuation above $4 billion. Revenue grew from $3.5M in 2023 to $30.5M in 2024 and $53.4M in the first nine months of 2025, up 174.7% year on year; overseas markets contributed over 70% of revenue, and its apps had more than 212 million users across over 200 countries.
Growth came at a cost: MiniMax remained unprofitable, with net losses of $269M in 2023, $465M in 2024 and $512M in the first nine months of 2025. In December 2025 it passed the HKEX hearing and launched a Hong Kong IPO valued at up to HKD50.4 billion (about $6.5 billion), with 14 cornerstone investors including Alibaba subscribing about HKD2.7 billion; the debut was targeted for Jan 9, 2026.
What has to be true
- Yan bet that a Chinese team could build general-purpose multimodal models, not just English-focused chatbots.
- AI-native consumer apps, not enterprise model sales, would be the fastest route to revenue and global distribution.
- Going overseas first meant monetizing where consumers pay for AI subscriptions, keeping over 70% of revenue international.
- Giant rounds from Alibaba, Tencent and others funded the loss-making race for model quality and scale.
What can be applied
For foundation-model startups, distribution is the moat: MiniMax grew revenue 9x by shipping consumer apps overseas, proving Chinese AI can monetize globally.
Aftermath
As of the sources verified for this case (Dec 31, 2025), MiniMax was in its Hong Kong IPO subscription period, targeting a Jan 9, 2026 debut on the HKEX with an offer valuation of up to HKD50.4 billion and expected net proceeds of about HKD3.8 billion, of which roughly 90% was earmarked for R&D over five years. Its consumer apps had more than 212 million users, first-nine-months 2025 revenue was $53.4 million with overseas markets over 70% of the total, and the company remained loss-making, posting a $512 million net loss for the first nine months of 2025.
Sources
- Chinese AI Developer MiniMax Launches Hong Kong IPO, Targets Jan. 9 Debut
- 稀宇科技启动招股 预计将于1月9日港股上市
- 人工智能公司 MiniMax 通过港交所聆讯，有望成为“AGI 全球第一股”
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