Kling AI Raises Two Billion Dollars as Kuaishou Spins Off Its Video AI Unit
Kling AI, the video generation unit of Chinese tech company Kuaishou, has raised an initial two billion dollars in venture capital funding, the company announced on Thursday. Further investors could still join the round, potentially pushing the total to roughly three billion dollars, diluting Kuaishou’s stake to about 68 percent.
Key Takeaways:
- Funding Round: Kling AI secured two billion dollars from venture investors.
- Spinoff: This comes as Kuaishou prepares for an IPO and spins off its fastest-growing business.
- Valuation: The pre-money valuation of Kling AI was approximately 15 billion dollars, according to Bloomberg.
- Competitors: Kling competes with ByteDance’s Seedance and Shengshu in delivering video content for professionals.
- Growth: The company’s annual recurring revenue reached around 500 million dollars in March, up significantly from January. First quarter revenue topped 650 million yuan (approximately 96 million dollars).
This raise is part of a broader trend as Chinese AI companies attract large funding rounds, aligned with Beijing’s efforts to keep its champions domestically competitive. However, the success of Kling AI will hinge on its ability to sustain growth in the professional video market and avoid the user attrition that plagued previous AI-video ventures like Sora.
Story by Ana-Maria Stanciuc, Editor-in-Chief at TNW.