MetaX Wins Nod for STAR Market IPO, Escalating Race for China's First GPU Listing

MetaX cleared a crucial regulatory hurdle in its pursuit to become China's first publicly listed GPU chipmaker, setting up an intense competition with rival Moore Threads as both companies race toward market debuts that promise substantial returns for early investors including prominent private equity manager Ge Weidong.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange's STAR Market listing committee approved MetaX's initial public offering on October 24, moving the company closer to a listing that could value it at 21.1 billion yuan ($2.9 billion). MetaX took 116 days from application to approval, trailing Moore Threads' 88-day sprint through the review process following its successful committee hearing on September 26.

The competing timelines have intensified investor focus on which company will claim bragging rights as the sector's first public listing. Both firms target the domestic GPU market—a strategic priority for China's semiconductor self-sufficiency ambitions—and share remarkably parallel trajectories: founded in the same year, both submitted prospectuses on the same day.

Early investors stand to reap extraordinary gains regardless of which company lists first. MetaX's latest funding round in March 2025 priced shares at 1,429.56 yuan per registered capital unit, representing nearly 12-fold returns for investors who entered at the initial 120.71 yuan price point.

Divergent Technical Strategies

MetaX and Moore Threads have carved distinct paths in China's nascent GPU industry despite their synchronized timelines. MetaX, founded by former AMD executive Chen Weiliang in September 2020, concentrated its efforts on GPGPU (General Purpose GPU) products that prioritize computing performance over graphics rendering capabilities.

Chen spent years as AMD's global design lead for general-purpose GPUs, overseeing development of 15 high-performance products before departing to establish MetaX. He recruited key AMD veterans including Chief Technology Officer Peng Li and Yang Jian to form the company's core management team.

The company developed its proprietary XCORE architecture and instruction set, supporting mixed-precision calculations across its product portfolio. MetaX's core offerings include the Xiyun C-series for general computing, the Xisi N-series for AI inference, and the Xicai G-series for graphics rendering.

Moore Threads, led by former Nvidia executive Zhang Jianzhong, adopted a "full-function GPU" approach resembling Nvidia's business model, pursuing consumer graphics cards while building software ecosystems. The contrasting strategies reflect each founder's corporate heritage and technical philosophy.

Investor Windfall Led by Private Equity Veteran

MetaX's fundraising prowess attracted 116 shareholders across nine financing rounds since inception, with the investor roster reading like a who's who of Chinese venture capital. Sequoia Capital China, Matrix Partners China, Legend Capital, Shanghai Sci-Tech Innovation Fund, and Pudong Capital all participated alongside private equity manager Ge Weidong's Chaos Investment.

Ge emerged as a major beneficiary of MetaX's valuation surge. The veteran investor, whose personal wealth reached 16 billion yuan according to the 2024 Hurun Rich List after starting with just 100,000 yuan in 2000, led a 1 billion yuan funding round in July 2022 and participated again in December 2023. Media reports estimate his total MetaX investment at 800 million yuan ($111 million).

Ge and his Chaos Investment entities now control 7.48% of MetaX, translating to approximately 1.58 billion yuan (220million)at current valuations—nearly doubling his investment. Company founder Chen Weiliang retains the largest stake at 22.94%.

The investment frenzy accelerated dramatically ahead of the IPO. From August 2024 to March 2025, 99 investors acquired stakes in MetaX, concentrating ownership across 113 shareholders holding less than 5% each. The dispersed structure came with valuation ratchets requiring management to repurchase shares if the listing fails.

Commercialization Race Intensifies

Both GPU hopefuls face the fundamental challenge of transforming substantial R&D spending into sustainable revenue amid China's broader push for semiconductor independence. MetaX invested 2.25 billion yuan ($313 million) in research and development from 2022 to 2024, with R&D expenses exceeding 120% of revenue each year.

The company generated 743 million yuan in revenue during 2024 while posting a net loss of 1.41 billion yuan. Cumulative losses over three years totaled 3.06 billion yuan.Moore Threads reported even steeper losses of approximately 5 billion yuan across the same period against R&D expenditures reaching 3.81 billion yuan ($530 million).

Capital market access offers crucial lifelines. MetaX seeks to raise 3.9 billion yuan through its STAR Market listing, while Moore Threads targets 8 billion yuan at a pre-listing valuation of 25.5 billion yuan ($3.5 billion).

Recent commercial traction suggests growing market acceptance. MetaX's order backlog reached 1.4 billion yuan ($195 million) as of September 5, 2025, driven by volume production of its Xiyun C500 chip that began in February 2024. The training-and-inference chip accounted for the majority of company revenue despite less than two years in production.

Production Milestones and Future Pipeline

MetaX accelerated chip development following its 2022 product roadmap launch. The Xisi N100 inference chip completed tape-out in January 2022 and entered mass production in April 2023. The more advanced Xiyun C500 training chip reached volume production 11 months ago.

The company's next-generation products target enhanced domestic control over critical supply chains. The Xiyun C600 series, positioned as "fully autonomous and controllable," completed initial testing in July 2025 and is scheduled to enter risk production by year-end. MetaX is simultaneously developing the C700 series alongside updated N-series inference chips and G-series graphics processors.

Moore Threads reported active negotiations with customers representing potential orders exceeding 2 billion yuan ($278 million) as of September 2025, with profitability targeted for 2027. The parallel commercialization timelines underscore intense competition for China's domestic GPU market as international technology restrictions drive demand for locally developed alternatives.

Workforce adjustments at MetaX drew regulatory scrutiny during the listing review process. Employee headcount declined from 931 in December 2024 to 870 by March 2025, including 54 fewer R&D personnel. The company attributed the reduction to normal human resource management, noting R&D staff rebounded to 670 by August 2025. Cash and cash equivalents of 5.69 billion yuan ($791 million) at the end of the first quarter 2025 provide sufficient runway to cover two years of operating needs, according to company disclosures.