Moonshot AI is reportedly seeking up to $2 billion in a new funding round that could value the company at $30 billion, marking its third fundraising effort within six months as it competes aggressively in China’s rapidly expanding artificial intelligence sector.
The company behind the Kimi chatbot has already initiated preliminary discussions with potential investors to secure more than $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Meanwhile, these discussions have started as Moonshot AI prepares to finalize a funding round led by Meituan, which values the AI startup at $20 billion after the investment. If Moonshot successfully achieves its latest fundraising target, the company’s valuation will have increased more than sevenfold since December, when investors valued it at slightly over $4 billion.
Furthermore, the Beijing-based startup has established itself as one of China’s most well-funded artificial intelligence research laboratories. Investors continue to channel significant capital into a select group of AI companies that aim to compete with global leaders such as OpenAI and Anthropic. The proposed fundraising round would also position Moonshot ahead of publicly listed competitor Minimax Group Inc., which held a market valuation of approximately $20 billion on Monday. However, Moonshot would still trail Zhipu, which commands an estimated valuation of around $80 billion, and DeepSeek, which is reportedly pursuing a valuation of roughly $50 billion through its first major funding round.
Nevertheless, the fundraising discussions remain in their early stages, and the company could still modify the details of the proposed investment round, according to sources familiar with the matter. A Moonshot spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
At the same time, Moonshot’s annual recurring revenue, a key indicator of future sales performance, surpassed $200 million in April. The company achieved this milestone through growing demand for its Kimi chatbot and large language model offerings.
Additionally, Moonshot is restructuring its corporate framework to support a future initial public offering in Hong Kong after Chinese regulators tightened oversight of overseas listings. The company is redesigning its offshore structure while maintaining access to US dollar-denominated capital through a planned joint-venture framework that accommodates foreign investors.
Former Tsinghua University professor Yang Zhilin founded Moonshot AI after gaining experience at Meta Platforms Inc. and Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. Today, the company generates revenue through subscription-based chatbot services and by providing its artificial intelligence technology to enterprise customers. More recently, Moonshot expanded its product portfolio by launching Kimi Work, a general-purpose AI agent powered by its latest K2.6 series models.
As China’s AI ecosystem continues to attract record investment, Moonshot AI is strengthening its position among the country’s leading artificial intelligence companies. Through rapid revenue growth, innovative AI products, strategic fundraising initiatives, and IPO preparations, the company aims to secure a larger share of the global AI market while intensifying competition among the world’s most influential AI developers.
