AI Company Mobvoi Passes HKEX Listing Hearing, May Become the First AIGC-listed Company

Technology Author: EqualOcean News, Jiahui Liao Editor: Yiru Qian Apr 07, 2024 02:27 PM (GMT+8)

Mobvoi is set to be listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

AI

Mobvoi, a Chinese AI company, recently passed the hearing at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and disclosed the post-hearing information on April 2. The company plans to list on the main board, with CICC and CMBI acting as joint sponsors. This move signifies that Mobvoi may soon become the first company listed under the AIGC category.

Data reveals that from 2021 to 2023, Mobvoi's revenue stood at CNY 398 million, CNY 500 million, and CNY 507 million, respectively. In terms of revenue composition, income from AI software saw a compound annual growth rate of 140%, rising from CNY 60 million in 2021 to CNY 343 million in 2023, with its corresponding revenue share surging from 15.0% in 2021 to 67.7% in 2023.The revenue from AI software can be further categorized into AIGC solution revenue and AI enterprise solution revenue. From 2021 to 2023, Mobvoi's AIGC solution revenue was CNY 6.822 million, CNY 39.857 million, and CNY 118 million, respectively, with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 300%.

During the same period, Mobvoi's gross profit margin was 37.5%, 67.2%, and 64.3% for 2021, 2022, and 2023, respectively. In 2022, Mobvoi achieved profitability, and its adjusted net profit for 2022 and 2023 remained positive. In essence, Mobvoi has become a company capable of self-sustaining profitability.

Furthermore, Mobvoi has consistently invested in research and development, with R&D expenses amounting to CNY 92 million, CNY 119 million, and CNY 155 million from 2021 to 2023. As of March 26, 2024, Mobvoi's R&D team comprised 55.0% of the total workforce, and the company had obtained a total of 681 AI-related intellectual properties, including 593 approved AI-related patents and 88 AI software copyrights.

Established in 2012, Mobvoi is an artificial intelligence company with generative AI and voice interaction technology at its core. The company focuses on providing AIGC solutions, AI enterprise solutions, intelligent devices, and accessories as part of its AI Copilot solutions. By integrating software and hardware products into real-life scenarios, Mobvoi aims to shape the next generation of human-machine interaction.

Mobvoi consists of a young team of returnee entrepreneurs, with its core team comprising former Google and IBM AI scientists, senior hardware engineers from Nokia and Motorola, as well as graduates from renowned institutions such as Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Peking University, and Tsinghua University.

According to a report by Zhishi Consulting, Mobvoi is one of the few Asian AI companies with the capability to develop universal large-scale models. It is also one of the earliest and highest-revenue-focused AIGC technology companies in Asia.

As early as 2020, Mobvoi developed the large-scale model UCLAI and vertically optimized technical modules. In the same year, it launched the first AIGC voice dubbing platform, Moyin(Chinese:魔音工坊), marking the initial commercial application of AIGC technology in China. Moyin, as the world's first voice dubbing platform with large-scale model AI collaboration capabilities, has provided users access to over 1000 voice tones, over 2000 styles, and over 20 dialects and foreign languages.

In 2023, Mobvoi introduced an upgraded version of the universal large-scale model, Monkey(Chinese:序列猴子), with natural language processing and generation capabilities. This enhancement has transformed it into a multifunctional tool capable of understanding text, generating content, engaging in conversations, and performing logical operations. It leverages its trained knowledge base to provide information and insights to global content creators, enterprise-level customers, and consumers.

In addition to the universal large-scale model Monkey and the AIGC voice dubbing platform Moyin, Mobvoi's AIGC solutions also include the all-in-one digital human creation platform, Wonderful Yuan(Chinese:奇妙元), the enterprise AI interactive digital employee generation platform, Wonderful Wen(Chinese:奇妙问), and the overseas version of Moyin, DupDub.

Since 2020, Mobvoi has amassed over 9 million AIGC solution users globally, with approximately 840,000 paid AIGC users since the introduction of the solution, generating over a million transactions since its launch.

Furthermore, as a Google-backed Chinese AI company, smart devices remain a significant part of Mobvoi's business, encompassing the TicWatch series of AI smartwatches and the Mobvoi Home Treadmill Incline AI smart treadmill, with a cumulative sales volume exceeding 2.4 million units. The TicWatch series has been sold in over 100 countries and regions.

In its prospectus, Mobvoi stated that the net proceeds from the IPO will primarily be used for continuous improvement of modeling technology by introducing world-leading technology and talent, conducting model training and vertical optimization of its underlying basic models, and enhancing existing program algorithms for solutions. This includes solution development and marketing, seeking strategic alliances, investments and acquisitions, as well as for operating and general corporate purposes.