Published:January 1, 2026
Reading Time:1 min read
Kimi’s $500 million Series C highlights surging global demand for advanced reasoning models and cements Moonshot AI’s position among China’s top AI startups.
Yang Zhilin, founder and CEO of Moonshot AI, said in an internal company memo today that Kimi has completed a $500 million Series C financing round, bringing the company’s cash reserves to over RMB 10 billion (approximately USD 1.4 billion).
According to the memo, Kimi’s global paid user base is growing at a monthly rate of 170%. Driven by the rollout of its K2 Thinking large language model, Kimi’s overseas API revenue from foundation models has increased fourfold.
Sources familiar with the matter said the round was led by IDG Capital, with existing shareholders including Alibaba and Tencent significantly oversubscribing. Following the financing, Moonshot AI’s post-money valuation reached approximately $4.3 billion.
