Kling raises $2B ahead of Hong Kong IPO, unit valued $18B

Kuaishou has raised about 13.82 billion yuan ($2.04 billion) for its AI video division Kling as it prepares to spin the unit off and list in Hong Kong. The financing values Kling at $18 billion and was led by CPE, Guofang Investment, BlueFive, Tencent and Citic Securities; the round could expand to as much as $3 billion.

How much did Kling raise and who led the round?

Kuaishou secured 13.82 billion yuan, equivalent to $2.04 billion, from a group led by CPE, Guofang Investment, BlueFive, Tencent and Citic Securities, with the financing pushing Kling to an $18 billion valuation. Sources cited by the Wall Street Journal said additional investors could join, which would raise the total to as much as $3 billion and reduce Kuaishou's stake to 68.33 percent.

The company’s stake projection is explicit: if the round reaches the $3 billion ceiling, Kuaishou would hold 68.33 percent of Kling. The report also notes that Kuaishou had signaled plans as early as May to spin off Kling and pursue a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

How does Kling fit inside Kuaishou and the wider market?

Kling is positioned as a core part of Kuaishou’s business but remains early on the monetization curve; the company is "still in the early stages of making money." The spin-off and fundraising indicate Kuaishou is separating Kling as a focused unit ahead of an IPO push, while retaining a majority stake.

Kling sits inside a broader wave of Chinese AI companies seeking Hong Kong listings: MiniMax and Zhipu AI recently went public, and some of those IPOs drew the same strategic backers that are backing Kling. In the competitive AI video tools market, Kling faces offerings such as Google’s Veo 3.1, Runway’s Gen-4.5, and ByteDance’s Seedance. Kling itself recently unveiled a Kling 3.0 video model as it develops product capabilities.

Why it matters

Strong strategic backing and an $18 billion valuation show investor appetite for specialized AI units even before sustained profitability. Major investors including Tencent and Citic Securities joining the round signal that financial and strategic players want exposure to generative video technology and potential platform synergies with Kuaishou’s distribution. Spinning Kling into its own listed company would let the market price that technology separately and could free capital for Kuaishou to invest elsewhere.

The move also reinforces Hong Kong’s role as a listing venue for Chinese AI firms, following recent public offerings by MiniMax and Zhipu AI that involved overlapping strategic names. That pattern matters for where large Chinese AI projects choose to raise growth capital.

What to watch

Watch whether additional investors sign on to push the round toward the $3 billion upper limit and whether Kuaishou follows through on the Hong Kong listing timetable it signaled in May. Also track Kling’s revenue trajectory beyond being "in the early stages of making money" and how the company differentiates Kling 3.0 against rivals such as Veo 3.1, Gen-4.5 and Seedance.