Moonshot AI has raised about US$2 billion in its latest funding round, reflecting growing investor appetite for Chinese startups competing with Silicon Valley leaders. The round, led by Meituan’s venture arm Long‑Z Investments, boosts Moonshot’s valuation to more than US$20 billion. According to financial advisor HF Capital, the company’s annual recurring revenue surpassed US$200 million in April, driven by subscriptions to its Kimi chatbot and AI model services.
This marks a rapid rise in valuation for the Beijing‑based startup, which was valued at US$4.3 billion late last year after raising US$500 million. It then secured US$700 million at a US$10 billion valuation earlier in 2026, followed by an expanded round seeking an additional US$1 billion. The latest fundraising shows Moonshot has more than quadrupled its valuation in just a few months.
Moonshot is part of an elite group of Chinese AI firms attracting significant investor interest. DeepSeek is reportedly raising capital at a valuation of up to US$50 billion, while peers MiniMax and Zhipu AI have surged to valuations above US$30 billion following their public debuts in Hong Kong earlier this year.
Founded by Yang Zhilin, a former Tsinghua University professor with experience at Meta and Google, Moonshot offers tiered subscription plans for its chatbot and provides its underlying technology to enterprise clients. The company’s rapid growth highlights both the momentum of China’s AI sector and the intensifying competition with global players such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
