Zhipu Unveils $5B Fundraising Plan for AI Model Development

Zhipu (02513.HK), a Chinese AI company focused on large language models, announced a fundraising plan in mid-September to raise a combined $5 billion (about HK$39.3 billion). The plan includes a placement of new shares to raise approximately HK$15.7 billion and an issue of zero-coupon convertible bonds with a principal amount of about $3 billion (around HK$23.6 billion).

The financing combines a new share placement with convertible bonds, with the placement price set at a discount of about 9.96% to the previous closing price and the conversion price at a premium of about 12.55%. About 60% of the proceeds are planned for research and development of the next-generation GLM model and a fully self-trained system.

The latest round is Zhipu's third since its Hong Kong listing eight months ago. Its January IPO raised net proceeds of about HK$4.9 billion, and a July placement raised about HK$31.4 billion, bringing the three financing rounds to roughly HK$75.6 billion in total.

Zhipu's first-half 2026 results showed revenue of 954 million yuan, up 399.7% year on year, with sales and marketing expenses down 14.8% to 178 million yuan and an adjusted net loss of about 2 billion yuan. Revenue from its open platform and APIs accounted for 86.5% of total revenue.

Shares have been volatile recently, falling 9.08% on Sept 14 and 5.69% on Sept 15 before rising 5.88% to HK$720 on Sept 16. The company's market value has retreated significantly from the record high of about HK$1.3 trillion reached on June 22.