Zhixi News, June 8 — According to reports, the Beijing-based AI large model unicorn Moon's Dark Side (Kimi) is currently negotiating a new round of financing, aiming for a maximum scale of 20 billion USD (approximately 136 billion RMB) and a target valuation of 300 billion USD (approximately 2,035 billion RMB).
If this round is completed as targeted, Moon's Dark Side's valuation would increase by about 6 times compared to its 4.3 billion USD (approximately 298 billion RMB) valuation in December last year. This would also be the third round of financing initiated by Moon's Dark Side in nearly six months.
Just last month, Moon's Dark Side completed a financing round of approximately 20 billion USD (approximately 136 billion RMB), with a post-money valuation exceeding 200 billion USD (approximately 1,356 billion RMB). This round was led by Meituan Dragon Ball, with participation from Tsinghua Capital, China Mobile, CPE (CITIC Private Equity), among others.
According to previous reports by Huafeng Capital, Moon's Dark Side has completed 6 rounds of financing, with a total funding amount exceeding 37.6 billion RMB, making it the domestic large model startup with the highest cumulative financing.
▲ Moon's Dark Side's past financing situation (Chart by Zhixi News, data source: Qichacha)
Moon's Dark Side was founded in 2023 in Beijing. Its founder and CEO, Yang Zhilin, earned his bachelor's degree from the Department of Computer Science at Tsinghua University and his Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). He previously worked at Google Brain and Meta AI.
The core product of Moon's Dark Side is the Kimi Intelligent Assistant. On April 20, Moon's Dark Side released and open-sourced its flagship model Kimi K2.6. In multiple global authoritative benchmark tests, K2.6's performance in certain dimensions matched or even surpassed top closed-source models such as GPT-5.4, Claude Opus 4.6, and Gemini 3.1 Pro.
As of today, on the OpenRouter Benchmarks list, Kimi K2.6 ranks 9th on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index list with a score of 53.9, placing it after MiniMax-M3 and before Xiaomi MiMo-V2.5-Pro.
▲ Kimi K2.6 ranks 9th on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index list (Source: OpenRouter)
On the product side, on June 3, Moon's Dark Side began the beta testing of Kimi Work Beta, positioned as a local universal Agent for knowledge workers. Users can describe task goals in natural language, and Kimi Work can decompose tasks, call tools, use browsers, create and organize files locally on the computer, and deliver work products such as documents, spreadsheets, and PPTs.
Regarding commercialization, Moon's Dark Side has begun to generate a certain scale of revenue. According to previous disclosures by Huafeng Capital, Moon's Dark Side's Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) in April had already exceeded 200 million USD (approximately 1.36 billion RMB), with accelerated growth in paid subscriptions and API revenue.
In terms of IPO progress, on March 26, Bloomberg reported that Moon's Dark Side is recently preparing for a Hong Kong IPO. Sources familiar with the matter stated that Moon's Dark Side is in the early stages, with the aim of stimulating investor interest in AI. Another source revealed that related preparations are still ongoing, and an IPO launch may not ultimately proceed.
Overall, since entering 2026, the capitalization process of leading domestic large model companies has significantly accelerated. On one hand, companies like Moon's Dark Side and Stepwise Stars have densely completed large-scale financing rounds, and DeepSeek was also reported last week to be about to complete its first external financing since its founding. On the other hand, companies like Zhipu and MiniMax have already taken the lead in opening the door to the Hong Kong stock market and are continuing to advance related work for A-share listings.
Looking globally, leading overseas AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic are also preparing for IPOs, continuously setting new records for financing and valuation. In March this year, OpenAI completed a financing round of 122 billion USD (approximately 8,272 billion RMB), achieving a post-money valuation of 852 billion USD (approximately 57.8 trillion RMB). On June 1, Anthropic announced the completion of a 65 billion USD (approximately 4,407 billion RMB) Series H financing round, with a post-money valuation reaching 965 billion USD (approximately 65.3 trillion RMB), and secretly filed its IPO prospectus the following day.
Against this backdrop, the financing and IPO pace of domestic large model companies has noticeably quickened. Capital, computing power, and commercialization capabilities are becoming key variables alongside model competition. For large model companies still in a high-investment cycle, large-scale financing and IPOs are not only ways to replenish ammunition but will also become important chips in the next phase of competing for top positions.
This article is from the WeChat public account "Zhixi News" (ID: zhidxcom), author: Yang Jingli
