Kuaishou's Kling AI closes $2.98B round, keeping parent in control
What's the deal? Kuaishou's video-generation unit, Beijing Kling, has completed a roughly US$2.72B financing, the Hong Kong-listed company said in an October 30 filing. The round drew technology companies, state-backed funds, and private investors.
Why now? The raise comes months after a $2.8 billion round in July that valued Kling at $15 billion pre-money and brought in Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu. The back-to-back financings point to strong investor appetite for leading Chinese AI businesses.
Who's in? New investors partly took over earlier commitments: a Kingdee International unit put in US$41.3M, Gongqingcheng Junke US$27.5M, and a MetaX unit US$13.8M. Alibaba Cloud, Baidu, Tencent, the China Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, and the China Internet Investment FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → also appear in the final investor table, with individual stakes small.
The numbers: Kling AIDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → generated more than US$116.9M in revenue in the second quarter of 2026, up more than 200% from a year earlier, lifting Kuaishou's other-services revenue to US$852.5M. The July filing cited unaudited 2025 revenue of about US$151.3M and a March 2026 annualised run rate of about $500 million.
What's the endgame? Through its Lucky LabsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → vehicle, Kuaishou keeps 66.68% of Beijing Kling's equity and 52.45% of voting rights, so the unit gains capital while the parent stays in control. Kuaishou did not disclose how Kling would use the proceeds.
What could go wrong? Investors hold redemption rights: they may seek a repurchase, plus 8% annual simple interest, if Beijing Kling does not list by October 30, 2031. Kling is also planning an IPO next year, Bloomberg News reported. Two investors could not complete payments, so Kling terminated portions covering US$13.8M and $80 million.
The signal: The round concentrates state, technology, and entertainment capital behind one video-generation provider as Kling competes with OpenAI, Google, and ByteDance. A University of Hong Kong study recently ranked ByteDance's Seedance ahead of US rivals on visual quality, with Kling behind it — a reminder that the capital does not guarantee the lead.
Read more: www1.hkexnews.hk, technode.global, Reuters
Image credit: Leon Terra
