A 29-year-old founder just pulled off what crypto founders have spent years chasing. Vast, a Beijing-based generative AI company, is heading to a Hong Kong IPO at a $2 billion valuation. Six months ago it was worth half that. Alibaba and Baidu both backed the recent funding push, signaling where serious money is moving right now.
The company builds 3D modeling software powered by AI. Game studios use it for assets. E-commerce platforms render products with it. Design teams prototype with it. In March, Vast closed a $50 million round. By August, it had raised nearly $200 million more, catapulting its valuation to $1 billion. Now Bank of America and China International Capital Corp. are guiding it toward public markets at double that price.
This matters because Hong Kong spent the last two years playing both sides. Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs got approved. Web3 companies got courted. Regulators signaled they were open to digital assets. But the actual buzz generating IPO interest right now isn't crypto exchanges or blockchain platforms. It's AI companies like Vast. Chinese tech firms are racing to list, and Hong Kong is becoming the venue where they do it.
If Vast lands its $2 billion valuation on the public market, it creates a playbook. More AI startups will follow. Founders will see the path. Investors will smell blood in the water. The template shifts what gets funded next, and that template is pointing hard away from tokens and toward traditional software with AI wrapped around it.
This article is informational and does not constitute investment advice. Market conditions and company valuations are subject to change.
