Chinese GPU Chip Designer Biren Technology Clears Hong Kong IPO Hurdle, Eyes Listing

Chinese GPU chip designer Biren Technology has passed its listing hearing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, positioning itself to become the first domestic GPU company listed in the territory. Founded in 2019, Biren joins an accelerating wave of Chinese AI chip makers seeking capital market access as the sector intensifies competition with established players like Nvidia and seeks to reduce dependence on foreign technology.

According to its prospectus disclosed on December 17, the Shanghai-based company reported revenue of 589 million yuan ($81.8 million) for the first half of 2025, up from 337 million yuan for the full year 2024. However, cumulative net losses reached 6.36 billion yuan ($883 million) over the reporting period, reflecting the heavy R&D investment characteristic of the capital-intensive semiconductor industry.

Biren's IPO proceeds will primarily fund research and development of intelligent computing solutions. The company's implied post-investment valuation reached 20.9 billion yuan as of August 2025, supported by investors including Shanghai Guotou Pioneer Fund, Shanghai AI Industry Investment Fund, Qiming Venture Partners, Hillhouse Capital, and corporate investors such as Ping An Group and ZTE Corporation.

The listing comes as China's intelligent computing chip market is expected to reach $50.4 billion in 2025, with domestic players projected to capture approximately 60% market share by 2029, up from about 20% in 2024, according to consultancy CIC.

Revenue Surge Amid Persistent Losses

Biren's revenue has grown at a compound annual rate of 2,500% from 499,000 yuan in 2022 to 337 million yuan in 2024. The company recorded revenue of 589 million yuan in the first six months of 2025, nearly double its full-year 2024 figure. However, net losses remained substantial at 1.6 billion yuan for the first half of 2025, compared with 1.54 billion yuan for all of 2024.

The company's gross margin has declined steadily from 100% in 2022 to 31.9% in the first half of 2025, reflecting the transition from early-stage product sales to commercial-scale deployment with associated cost structures. R&D expenses totaled 5.72 billion yuan in the first half of 2025, bringing cumulative R&D spending to 3.3 billion yuan over the reporting period.

Biren competes with three other Chinese GPU makers that have already listed domestically. Cambricon Technologies, founded in 2016 and listed on Shanghai's STAR Market, had a market capitalization of 554.8 billion yuan as of December 17. Moore Threads Technology and Metax Technology, both founded in 2020, had market caps of 336 billion yuan and 332 billion yuan respectively.

Product Roadmap Targets 2026 Launch

Biren has commercialized its BR106 and BR110 chips, with combined sales exceeding 12,000 units. The company launched its BR166 series in 2025, utilizing chiplet technology and advanced die-to-die interconnection by co-packaging two BR106 dies. The BR166 has not yet generated revenue during the reporting period.

The company plans to introduce its next-generation flagship data center chip, the BR20X series, for commercial release in 2026. This second-generation architecture will deliver enhanced single-card computing power, larger and faster memory, higher-speed interconnect bandwidth, and native support for broader data formats including FP8 and FP4. Architecture design for BR20X is complete, with physical design and tape-out verification underway.

Future products include the BR30X series for cloud training and inference, and BR31X for edge inference, both scheduled for commercial launch in 2028. The product pipeline reflects Biren's "1+1+N+X" platform strategy: one GPU architecture plus one unified software platform, spawning multiple chips and a comprehensive product portfolio.

Concentrated Customer Base in Telecoms

Biren derives most revenue from China's telecommunications sector. The company has established partnerships with all three major Chinese telecom operators, addressing diverse procurement needs. In September 2024, Biren delivered a 1,024-GPU intelligent computing cluster to a telecom customer in Nanjing, with total contract value of 180 million yuan ($25 million).

Revenue from the top five customers accounted for 90.3% of total revenue in 2024 and 97.9% in the first half of 2025. All five largest customers are Chinese companies engaged in ICT, data centers, and AI solutions. As of the prospectus date, Biren had signed five framework sales agreements and 24 sales contracts for specialized technology products, with total value of approximately 1.24 billion yuan ($172 million).

The company has served nine Fortune China 500 companies as of June 22, 2025, including five Fortune Global 500 firms. Biren has strategically expanded into AI data centers, telecommunications, AI solutions, energy and utilities, fintech, and internet sectors.

Market Position and Competition

Biren held 0.16% of China's intelligent computing chip market and 0.20% of the GPGPU market by revenue in 2024, according to CIC. The company expects to capture approximately 0.2% market share as the Chinese intelligent computing chip market reaches $50.4 billion in 2025.

China's intelligent computing chip market remains highly concentrated at the top, with the two leading players—Nvidia and Huawei HiSilent—commanding 94.4% combined market share in 2024. The remaining market is relatively fragmented among over 15 scaled participants, with no major player holding more than 1.0% market share.

The company's R&D workforce numbered 657 as of June 30, 2025, representing 83% of total employees. Some 78% hold master's degrees or higher from prominent universities, and over 210 R&D personnel have more than 10 years of industry experience. The technical team includes veterans from Nvidia, AMD, Huawei, and Samsung.

Founder Profile and Management

Founder, Chairman and CEO Zhang Wen, 54, holds an MBA from Columbia University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and is admitted to practice law in New York. Prior to founding Biren, Zhang served as president of SenseTime, an AI company, and held positions at LED chip company Lattice Power, private equity firm Shanghai Dingyu Hengrui, and law firm Kirkland & Ellis.

Chief Technology Officer Hong Zhou, 59, oversees product technology development and serves as chief architect of Biren's GPGPU chips. He holds degrees from Peking University, Tsinghua University, and the State University of New York at Buffalo, with nearly 30 years of GPU design experience at S3, Nvidia, S3 Graphics, and Huawei's Futurewei Technologies, where he served as chief architect.

Chief Operating Officer Zhang Linglan, 52, manages project management, production and quality control. He holds degrees from Zhejiang University, University of Southern California, and UC Berkeley, with over 23 years of semiconductor industry experience at AMD, Samsung Electronics, and Higon Austin R&D Center.