Technology

Kuaishou’s Kling AI Completes Near $3 Billion Funding Round Ahead of Planned IPO

While US AI names were being sold off, China’s Kling AI closed a $2.98 billion round — the second giant raise in four months for the video-generation unit.

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Highlights

  • Kuaishou said its unit Beijing Kling has completed a fundraising round of about 19.8 billion yuan ($2.98 billion)
  • Kuaishou will hold two-thirds of the equity and 52.45% of voting rights in Kling through its Lucky Labs holding vehicle
  • The raise follows a $2.8 billion round in July that drew Alibaba and Tencent and valued Kling at $15 billion pre-money
  • Named investors this round include a Kingdee International unit (300 million yuan), Gongqingcheng Junke (200 million) and a MetaX unit (100 million)
  • Kling competes with the AI video models of OpenAI, Google and ByteDance, and is planning an IPO next year, Bloomberg reported

China’s AI video champion raises again

Tencent-backed Kuaishou Technology said on Friday that its unit Beijing Kling has completed a fundraising round of about 19.8 billion yuan ($2.98 billion) Reuters.

The short-video platform operator will hold two-thirds of the equity and 52.45% of the voting rights in the Kling AI maker through its Lucky Labs holding vehicle Reuters — control stays with Kuaishou even as outside money pours in.

The round in detail

The fundraise comes after a $2.8 billion raise in July, which drew investors like Alibaba and Tencent, when Kling was valued at $15 billion pre-money Reuters. This time, a unit of Hong Kong-listed Kingdee International invested 300 million yuan, Gongqingcheng Junke put in 200 million yuan and a unit of Shanghai-listed MetaX added 100 million yuan Reuters.

Kuaishou did not reveal how Kling would use the proceeds Reuters.

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A different market mood

Kling competes with the AI video generation models of OpenAI, Google and TikTok owner ByteDance, and is planning an IPO next year, Bloomberg News reported earlier this month Reuters.

The contrast with this week’s Western market mood — detailed in our report on OpenAI’s trimmed funding target — is hard to miss. US investors spent October demanding proof that AI spending pays; Kling’s backers have now funded it twice in four months at rising scale. The IPO, when it comes, will test which mood prices AI video correctly.