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MiniMax IPO: AI Startup's $6.5B Valuation Soars
9 Jan
Summary
- MiniMax's multimodal model M2 gained global traction after its October 2025 launch.
- The company's IPO on Hong Kong Stock Exchange valued it at $6.5 billion.
- Adjusted losses of $186 million in nine months due to high computing costs.
Chinese AI startup MiniMax Group Ltd. has made its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with its initial public offering valuing the company at $6.5 billion. The firm's unique strategy focused on developing a single model capable of processing text, speech, and video, a challenging endeavor that founder Yan Junjie described as "painful" during its initial three years. However, this multi-modal approach paid off with the October 2025 release of its foundation model, M2, which rapidly gained international developer adoption.
The company's journey to this point has been supported by significant investments from prominent figures and entities, including Richard Li's Pacific Century Group, gaming studio MiHoYo, and tech giants Alibaba and Tencent. MiniMax has served over 212 million users across its consumer products, such as its Hailuo video generator, which allows users to create cinematic clips from text prompts. This tool is recognized globally as a competitor to platforms like OpenAI's Sora.
Despite its commercial success and a 175% year-on-year revenue increase, MiniMax faces scrutiny over profitability. The company reported an adjusted loss of about $186 million for the first nine months of 2025, largely attributed to the substantial computing costs associated with training its advanced models. Analysts note the ongoing challenge for AI startups to justify high valuations amidst current revenue levels and evolving market dynamics.
