Moonshot AI raises $2 billion at $20 billion valuation

Moonshot AI, a Beijing-based artificial intelligence lab, has raised about $2 billion in a new funding round that values the company at $20 billion. The investment was led by Long-Z Investments, which is the venture capital arm of Meituan. Other investors participating in the round included Tsinghua Capital, China Mobile, and CPE Yuanfeng, with Huafeng Capital acting as the financial advisor to some of the participating investors. Founded in 2023 by Yang Zhilin, a former researcher at Meta AI and Google Brain, Moonshot AI develops the Kimi series of open-weight large language models—which are AI models with accessible weights.

The company’s valuation has experienced rapid growth over a short period. At the end of 2025, Moonshot AI was valued at $4.3 billion. By early 2026, that valuation more than doubled to $10 billion following a prior $700 million funding round. The latest round brings the total capital raised by the startup over the past six months to $3.9 billion. This valuation is supported by growing commercial performance; according to Huafeng Capital, Moonshot AI’s annual recurring revenue topped $200 million in April, driven by paid subscriptions and API usage.

The fundraising reflects a broader surge in investor interest in Chinese AI developers, particularly those focusing on open-weight models. While Chinese AI companies may not be swimming in as much cash as their Western rivals, their models face no shortage of interest from users looking for cheap inference, which is the process of running an AI model. This demand is driving significant valuations and market activity across the region:

• DeepSeek is reportedly in talks to raise outside capital for the first time, targeting a valuation of about $45 billion.
• Zhipu AI ended Thursday with a market cap of HK$434.7 billion (roughly $55.9 billion) on the Hong Kong market.
• MiniMax ended the same Thursday with a market cap of HK$257.3 billion ($33 billion).

Moonshot AI’s existing roster of backers includes prominent technology firms and investment groups, such as Alibaba, Tencent, HongShan, ZhenFund, IDG Capital, and 5Y Capital, who have previously invested in the company.

Why it matters

The fundraising highlights the surging investor appetite for open-weight AI models made by Chinese labs, with Moonshot AI reaching a $20 billion valuation.