Megvii Technology, a Chinese artificial intelligence company, has applied for an initial public offering on the Hong Kong market, according to reports.
The Beijing-based company is backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba and makes the Face++ facial recognition platform. It also builds traffic management software.
Two people who asked not to be named told Reuters that Megvii wants to raise $500 million to $1 billion in the IPO, when it first happens later in 2019. However, Megvii didn’t comment.
Megvii raised $750 million in a funding round in early 2019. The investors included Bank of China Group Investment, a state-based investment group.
Its 2018 revenues were nearly $200 million but it also reported a loss of $470 million. Reuters said that Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are joint sponsors of the IPO.
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