Chinese artificial intelligence startup MiniMax Group said on Thursday it raised HK$4.82 billion ($618.6 million) in its Hong Kong initial public offering after pricing shares at HK$165 each, the top end of its marketed range.
MiniMax, one of China’s earliest large-language model developers to pursue a public listing, sold 29.2 million shares in the IPO, up from its initial plan to offer about 25.4 million shares. The company launched the offering on December 31 and is expected to begin trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Friday, according to an exchange filing.
The strong demand for MiniMax shares highlights robust investor appetite for Chinese AI and semiconductor firms, which have flocked to Hong Kong’s IPO market in recent weeks. Many of these listings have traded above their offer prices, reflecting Beijing’s push to accelerate the development of domestic technology champions amid U.S. restrictions on advanced tech exports.
MiniMax said it has attracted major backers including Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Mirae Asset Securities. Founded in early 2022 by former SenseTime executive Yan Junjie, the company develops multimodal AI models capable of generating text, audio, images, video, and music.
Hong Kong recorded its strongest IPO year since 2021 in 2025, with companies raising $36.5 billion across 114 new listings, according to LSEG data. MiniMax said in December that most of the net proceeds from the IPO will be invested in research and development over the next five years, underscoring its focus on advancing core AI technologies.
