Alibaba, Tencent back Kuaishou's Kling AI in $2.8 billion fundraise
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FILE PHOTO: The logo of online video service operator Kuaishou Technology is seen at the China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference, also known as ChinaJoy, in Shanghai, China July 30, 2021. Picture taken July 30, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
July 2 (Reuters) - China's Kuaishou Technology said on Thursday a group of investors including Alibaba and Tencent will inject over 19 billion yuan ($2.80 billion) in Kling AI, while valuing the popular AI video arm at $15 billion on a pre-money basis.
The fundraising underscores investors' appetite for China's fast-growing AI sector, which continues to attract billions of dollars in fresh capital. Technology companies have raised a total of $3.1 billion from stock market listings in China this year to mid-June, more than five times the amount raised last year.
The fundraising for one of China's most popular video-generating services allows Kling AI to bring an additional investor within the next two months, and is capped at 20.45 billion yuan.
Following the capital injection, Kuaishou's stake in Kling AI will be diluted to about 68% from 100%.
Heavyweights such as Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu have agreed to take stakes in Kling AI, which generated revenue of 650 million yuan in the March quarter, more than quadrupling from a year earlier.
While the pre-money valuation came as no surprise, Citi analysts highlighted the "impressive" roster of investors, adding that all eyes will now turn to Kling AI's upcoming upgrade.
Shares of Kuaishou jumped as much as 6.9% on Friday before shedding all of it to end largely unchanged.
Kuaishou acknowledged exploring a restructuring of Kling AI in May following media reports of a looming spin-off, but maintained discussions were in their infancy.
($1 = 6.7779 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Sneha Kumar and Jasmeen Ara Shaikh in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Eileen Soreng)
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