HomeStep Stars Secures $2.5B Financing, Drops Red-Chip Structure to Speed Hong Kong IPO
Stepwise Star, a domestic large-model unicorn, is nearing the close of a new funding round worth approximately $2.5 billion. The company has also dissolved its Red Chip structure and officially entered the fast-track preparation phase for a Hong Kong IPO. This round stands out for its strong concentration of industrial capital, with core supply-chain players like Huqin, Longqi, Huawei, and ZTE participating—covering everything from mobile-device manufacturing to upstream semiconductor components.
This shift in capital composition clearly reflects the industry's move toward embedding large-model capabilities into mobile endpoints. Meanwhile, market chatter suggests OpenAI is quietly developing its first AI Agent phone, with mass production potentially beginning as early as the first half of 2027. By securing backing from the hardware supply chain at this stage, Stepwise Star is showing sharp strategic foresight in the race for terminal-side AIization.
Notably, Hong Kong Investment Management Company (HKIC)—often called the "Hong Kong version of Temasek"—appears among the shareholders. That not only lends strong official endorsement to Stepwise Star’s Hong Kong listing but also cements its central role in the Greater Bay Area’s AI industry cluster. As the fundraising environment for domestic large models continues to heat up, recent reports indicate that Moonlight Face is also set to close a $2 billion funding round. By pulling in deep industrial resources, Stepwise Star is trying to push beyond pure algorithm development into full-scale industrial applications. How it performs on the capital front and along its technical productization path after listing could reshape the market landscape and competitive moats of China’s general-purpose AI industry.
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Wow, $2.5B for a domestic LLM unicorn? That's massive! Dropping the red-chip structure seems like a smart move to speed up the IPO. But I wonder about the valuation and competition from other big players. Hope they can deliver real innovation. 🚀
Stepwise Star, a domestic large-model unicorn, is nearing the close of a new funding round worth approximately $2.5 billion. The company has also dissolved its Red Chip structure and officially entered the fast-track preparation phase for a Hong Kong IPO. This round stands out for its strong concentration of industrial capital, with core supply-chain players like Huqin, Longqi, Huawei, and ZTE participating—covering everything from mobile-device manufacturing to upstream semiconductor components.
This shift in capital composition clearly reflects the industry's move toward embedding large-model capabilities into mobile endpoints. Meanwhile, market chatter suggests OpenAI is quietly developing its first AI Agent phone, with mass production potentially beginning as early as the first half of 2027. By securing backing from the hardware supply chain at this stage, Stepwise Star is showing sharp strategic foresight in the race for terminal-side AIization.
Notably, Hong Kong Investment Management Company (HKIC)—often called the "Hong Kong version of Temasek"—appears among the shareholders. That not only lends strong official endorsement to Stepwise Star’s Hong Kong listing but also cements its central role in the Greater Bay Area’s AI industry cluster. As the fundraising environment for domestic large models continues to heat up, recent reports indicate that Moonlight Face is also set to close a $2 billion funding round. By pulling in deep industrial resources, Stepwise Star is trying to push beyond pure algorithm development into full-scale industrial applications. How it performs on the capital front and along its technical productization path after listing could reshape the market landscape and competitive moats of China’s general-purpose AI industry.
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Wow, $2.5B for a domestic LLM unicorn? That's massive! Dropping the red-chip structure seems like a smart move to speed up the IPO. But I wonder about the valuation and competition from other big players. Hope they can deliver real innovation. 🚀
