Kuaishou says its Kling AI unit closed a 19.8 billion yuan funding round, about $2.9 billion

Kuaishou Technology said on Friday, Oct. 30, that investors have paid in full for a capital increase in Beijing Kling, the unit that holds its Kling AI video business, bringing in about 19.8 billion yuan, or about $2.9 billion, according to a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange. Reuters reported the amount as $2.98 billion, converting at 6.66 yuan to the dollar. Kuaishou’s filing gives the dollar equivalent as about $2.905 billion.

The filing says investors paid RMB19,801.84 million in total. That is below the RMB20,447.10 million (US$3 billion) limit Kuaishou set when it announced the agreement on July 2.

Two subscribers did not complete their payments. The filing says each of Guangdong Dakang Lanwu Equity Investment Partnership and BFI MIDCO “was not able to complete the payment of its Subscription Price within the given period.” Beijing Kling terminated their agreements for the unpaid RMB100 million (Dakang Lanwu) and US$80 million (BFI MIDCO, about RMB545.26 million), and both ceased to be investors. The filing attributes this to “objective reasons not attributable to any party.” Those amounts total about RMB645 million, the gap between the amount paid and the July limit, by AI Tech Daily’s calculation.

Most of Dakang Lanwu’s commitment was taken over. The filing says five investors assumed RMB780 million of it, among them Kingdee Software (China), a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Kingdee International (RMB300 million); Gongqingcheng Junke Investment Partnership (RMB200 million); and MetaX Shuzhi Technology (Shanghai), a subsidiary of Shanghai-listed MetaX (RMB100 million in total, including part of another investor’s commitment). Reuters named those three, and the filing says they were granted redemption rights. Their combined 600 million yuan is about 3% of the 19.8 billion yuan raised, by AI Tech Daily’s calculation, so it is a small part of the round. The filing’s completion table lists dozens of other investors, including Hangzhou AliCloud Apsara Information Technology, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, and two companies controlled by Tencent.

Under the July 2 notice, investors’ redemption rights let them require Beijing Kling to repurchase their stakes after certain triggering events, including no IPO by Oct. 30, 2031, or an earlier “Latest Listing Date,” at the original price plus 8% annual simple interest.

After completion, Lucky Labs, which Kuaishou indirectly wholly owns, will hold 66.68% of Beijing Kling’s equity and 52.45% of its voting rights, assuming the limits of the unit’s share participation schemes are fully used, the filing says. Reuters described that as two-thirds of the equity. The Oct. 30 filing does not say how the money will be used. The July 2 notice said proceeds were expected to go toward business expansion, daily operation, working capital, team development and other purposes approved by Beijing Kling’s board.

Reuters described the round as following a $2.8 billion raise in July that drew investors including Alibaba and Tencent. Kuaishou’s filings describe a single capital increase, announced July 2 and completed Oct. 30, with units of both companies among the investors.

Bloomberg reported on Oct. 6, citing people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified, that Kling has picked China International Capital Corp., Goldman Sachs and UBS for a Hong Kong initial public offering that could raise at least $1 billion, and is targeting a listing as soon as next year. Kuaishou’s Oct. 30 filing does not describe an IPO plan.

Reuters said Kling competes with AI video generation models from OpenAI, Google and TikTok owner ByteDance. Related coverage: Moonshot AI’s funding round and Hong Kong IPO plan and DeepSeek’s raise of about 100 billion yuan.

Kuaishou says its Kling AI unit closed a 19.8 billion yuan funding round, about $2.9 billion

Sources