HKEX Insight

A stream of Hong Kong IPOs from across the artificial intelligence (AI) value chain is giving investors unprecedented access to one of the most – if not the most – important technology themes in the market today.

Seeded by notable listings by AI-driven companies since 2020, the sector started approaching critical mass in 2025 and early 2026 with a new wave of AI-related companies coming to market, such as Biren Technology, Zhipu AI and MiniMax.

February extended the picture into the AI hardware segment, including chips, enterprise AI systems and AI server hardware supply chains, while March brought more visible momentum in the application segment of AI including robotics and computer vision.

By April, listing activity had stretched into AI-native energy storage, semiconductor image sensors, spatial intelligence and AI design software.

The progression mirrors how AI is unfolding in the real economy, cutting not through a single vertical, but across the entire stack: compute, models, software, automation, sensors, hardware, and the physical systems required to deploy them at scale.

As of end-May 2026, total IPO proceeds raised by companies across the AI value chain have reached HK$97.9 billion since the start of December, approximately 55% of total IPO fundraising in the whole market in the same period.

At one level are the AI platform and model companies, including MiniMax and Zhipu AI.

Around them sits an expanding applications layer: companies working in robotics, autonomous driving, 3D graphics, energy storage, drug discovery, and enterprise solutions, including names such as CiDi, OneRobotics, Insilico Medicine, Sigenergy and Manycore Technology.

Beneath that is the infrastructure layer: the chips, semiconductors, sensors, hardware that allow AI workloads to run in practice, represented by companies such as Biren Technology, Axera Semiconductor, Gpixel and Victory Giant Technology.

Taken together, these layers tell a more interesting story than any single deal could on its own.

One or two high-profile listings can create excitement, but a succession of companies spanning platforms, applications, semiconductors, image sensors, robotics, AI software and energy-linked technologies begins to create something more durable: sector depth and a stronger sense that investors can access an investable theme rather than a handful of disconnected names.

That breadth is also increasingly visible at the benchmark level, with indices such as the HKEX Tech 100 Index tracking 100 of the largest Hong Kong-listed companies across six innovation themes, including AI.

That is one of the reasons the recent IPO wave feels transformational. It suggests that AI is starting to appear in Hong Kong not only as a market narrative, but as a listed category with breadth.

The broader backdrop has also helped. As of end-May 2026, Hong Kong recorded 62 IPOs raising HK$166.8 billion, compared with 29 IPOs and HK$77.7 billion in the same period in 2025, maintaining its position as the world’s top IPO venue by funds raised.

Trading activity reinforced that picture. Cash market ADT reached HK$275.3 billion YTD at the end of May 2026, up 13.6% year-on-year, while market capitalisation stood at HK$47.1 trillion at the end of May, up 15.0% year-on-year.

Further, post-listing performance in the AI and TMT sectors has been strong, with TMT issuers seeing share price increases of 30.3% in the month following listings in Q1 2026, according to Dealogic and Bloomberg data as of 31 March.

These figures help explain why innovative companies are being drawn to Hong Kong’s market. When those conditions are present, a market is better placed not only to attract next-generation issuers, but also to support them once they are public.

On the listing rules side, Chapter 18C has been particularly relevant in this context.

Introduced in March 2023, 18C created a dedicated listing pathway for Specialist Technology Companies – including those in next-generation information technology and AI – that could not previously meet traditional profit, revenue or cash flow requirements. This framework gave high-potential but pre-profit innovators with strong R&D needs a route to the Main Board.

As of end-March 2026, 13 of 14 companies listed under Chapter 18C had an AI component, and 16 of 18 active publicly filed 18C applicants also had an AI component – underscoring how closely Hong Kong’s specialist tech listing regime aligns with the companies shaping the AI value chain.

HKEX has also rolled out further listing enhancements, including the Technology Enterprises Channel (TECH) for streamlined applications, confidential filing options for eligible issuers, and measures to improve listing efficiency and price discovery.

For AI companies – often R&D-intensive, capital-hungry and sensitive around intellectual property – these tailored pathways reduce friction in going public.

Further enhancements are also underway: HKEX’s recent Listing Competitiveness consultation proposes lowering market capitalisation thresholds and expanding the definition of “innovative companies” to attract more AI and specialist tech issuers.

The evolution of technology is a progression from infrastructure to platforms to intelligence, with value migrating up and down the stack over time.

Today’s AI era is similar to the Web 1.0 and mobile internet wave in that it represents a technological evolution building on decades of advances in software, data, cloud, and semiconductors by companies listed at HKEX.

And with 70 active public A1 filings from companies in the AI value chain, momentum looks set to continue.

More companies coming from more parts of the value chain means more comparability within the sector and a deeper roster of innovation-led issuers for the market.

This is why the AI IPO story matters beyond technology alone.

What started as a cluster of standout IPOs is widening into something more meaningful – a new issuer ecosystem that reflects the breadth of AI innovation itself, while reinforcing Hong Kong’s position as a leading fundraising hub for the next generation of technology companies.

And these are exactly the conversations we will be continuing at the 2026 HKEX Future Tech Summit in Shenzhen this month, where founders, investors and innovators from across the AI value chain will come together to discuss and shape what comes next.