Money keeps pouring into AI video, and China’s Kling is one of the biggest buckets.
The deal. Kuaishou, the Tencent-backed short-video company, said on October 30 that its unit Beijing Kling completed a round of about 19.8 billion yuan, or roughly $2.98 billion, CNA reports. That is 19.8 billion yuan, not 198 billion, in case you see the bigger number floating around.
Who owns what. Through a holding vehicle called Lucky Labs, Kuaishou will keep two-thirds of the equity and 52.45% of voting rights in the Kling maker.
The new money. Fresh backers include a unit of Kingdee International with 300 million yuan, Gongqingcheng Junke with 200 million yuan, and 100 million yuan from a unit of MetaX, a Shanghai-listed firm, per The Standard. They partly took over other investors’ commitments and got redemption rights. Kuaishou did not say how Kling will spend the cash.
The pace. This comes after a $2.8 billion raise in July that drew Alibaba and Tencent and valued Kling at $15 billion before the new money. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Kling is planning an IPO next year.
The business behind it. Kling AI revenue jumped more than 200% from a year earlier to over 850 million yuan in the second quarter. The cost hits the parent: Kuaishou’s first-half net profit fell 32%, partly because of heavier AI spending.
The rivals. Kling competes with video models from OpenAI, Google and ByteDance, which owns TikTok.
What’s real here: two near-$3 billion raises in about four months show investors see AI video as a real business, not a demo. The IPO talk is still just a report.
Sources
- CNA: Kuaishou’s Kling AI unit completes a near $3 billion funding round
- The Standard: Kuaishou’s Kling AI unit completes a near 20 billion yuan funding round
- The Standard: Kuaishou’s profit down 32pc in H1 as AI investment weighs
By Willa Ravenwire · The AI Bandwagon