Chinese AI startup MiniMax shares surge 109% in blockbuster Hong Kong IPO

Daniel Levi Posted On January 9, 2026

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MiniMax just pulled off a market debut that few startups ever get to enjoy. Shares of the Shanghai-based AI company jumped 109% on their first day of trading in Hong Kong, closing at HK$345 after pricing at HK$165. The move instantly made MiniMax one of the hottest tech listings in Asia this year.

The company raised HK$4.8 billion, about $620 million, outpacing its closest rival Zhipu AI, which listed just a day earlier and managed a more modest 13% pop, according to CNBC. For China’s so-called “AI tigers,” the message from investors was loud and clear: demand is there, and it’s aggressive.

Bloomberg had flagged MiniMax earlier this week as it prepared to price its IPO at the top of its marketed range, a decision that valued the company at roughly $6.5 billion. The final result beat even those expectations. MiniMax raised more than initially planned and entered public markets with significant momentum.

MiniMax was founded in early 2022 by Yan Junjie, a former executive at SenseTime. His co-founders include Yang Bin, Zhou Yucong, and Yeyi Yun, all veterans of China’s AI scene. In just three years, the team has built a portfolio of multimodal models that work across text, images, audio, video, and even music. Products like MiniMax M1, Hailuo-02, Speech-02, and Music-01 target both everyday users and enterprise customers.

Backed by heavyweights such as Alibaba and Tencent, the company has focused on consumer AI tools such as chatbots and image generators while expanding into video synthesis and creative software. Yan Junjie serves as CEO, with Yun Yeyi as COO. Both previously worked at SenseTime, one of China’s earliest AI players.

This IPO lands at a tense moment for Chinese AI firms. Washington’s export limits on advanced chips have forced companies to rethink how they train and deploy models. Fundraising has picked up across the sector as startups rush to secure capital and build local infrastructure that reduces reliance on U.S. technology.

MiniMax’s debut also coincided with a packed week for Hong Kong’s markets. Six Chinese firms lined up to list, including chipmaker Iluvatar CoreX and surgical robotics company Shenzhen Edge Medical. Zhipu AI fixed its offer price at HK$116.20 per share late last month to raise HK$4.3 billion, making MiniMax’s explosive first day even more striking by comparison.

According to its prospectus, MiniMax had more than 200 million cumulative users across over 200 countries and regions as of September. Revenue reached $53.4 million in the nine months ending September 30, 2025, up 174% year over year. Losses remain heavy, with a net loss of $512 million during the same period.

Most of that revenue comes from subscriptions and in-app purchases. The company admitted it is still in a “nascent stage in terms of monetization and commercialization,” after spending years building its core models instead of chasing short-term profits.

MiniMax says the fresh capital will go straight into research and development. With public markets now backing its vision, the startup has joined Zhipu in beating U.S. giants like OpenAI to an IPO. For China’s AI race, that milestone carries real weight.