Hong Kong Exchange says AI firms lead 2026 IPO wave with $4.9B raised

Hong Kong’s disclosure that AI companies have raised nearly $5 billion in just two months – with about 20 more AI value-chain firms queued up – reinforces that capital markets are reconfiguring around AI as a primary growth story, not a side theme. MiniMax and Zhipu’s listings, along with planned IPOs from AI storage and enterprise AI vendors, give public investors direct exposure to China’s model and infrastructure stack rather than forcing them into indirect ‘AI concept’ bets.([bastillepost.com](https://www.bastillepost.com/hongkong/article/15636824-%E6%B8%AF%E4%BA%A4%E6%89%80%EF%BC%9A%E7%B4%8420%E5%AE%B6%E4%BE%86%E8%87%AAai%E5%83%B9%E5%80%BC%E9%8F%88%E5%85%AC%E5%8F%B8%E5%B7%B2%E9%81%9E%E4%B8%8A%E5%B8%82%E7%94%B3%E8%AB%8B?utm_source=openai))

Strategically, this matters because China’s AI ecosystem has been capital-constrained relative to U.S. hyperscalers and private giants. A functioning HK AI IPO pipeline gives Chinese model builders and tooling companies an alternative to purely domestic or private financing channels, potentially accelerating their ability to fund compute, research, and global expansion. It also internationalizes the cap table of Chinese AI platforms, tying them more tightly to offshore investors who now care deeply about their long-term competitiveness.

For the race to AGI, the signal is simple: we now have a public-market benchmark basket of Chinese AI value-chain firms. Their execution, margins, and R&D burns will be watched as closely as any frontier-lab announcement. If these listings trade well and follow-on offerings are absorbed, expect more aggressive capital deployment into training runs, specialized hardware, and vertical agents – raising the competitive bar for Western peers.