AI chipmaker Enflame sets subscription date for near $900 million Shanghai IPO

Enflame Technology, one of China's leading AI chipmakers, will open share subscriptions on September 2 for its 6 billion yuan ($892.21 million) IPO on Shanghai's tech-heavy STAR Market, a regulatory filing showed late on Monday.

The chipmaker, backed by technology company Tencent Holdings , will issue 43.04 million new ‌shares, representing ⁠a 10% stake ⁠in its enlarged share capital of approximately 430 million shares, with preliminary price consultations set to begin on August 28, the filing showed.

Of the total ​offering, an initial 8.61 million shares have been allocated to strategic investors, while 27.54 million and 6.89 million shares have been set ​aside for institutional and retail tranches, respectively.


Founded ⁠in 2018, ‌Shanghai-based Enflame is grouped alongside Moore Threads, MetaX, ​and Biren Technology ​as one of China's "four little GPU dragons." The ⁠other three companies have all gone public over the ​past year, riding a wave of global enthusiasm ​for semiconductor companies.

Enflame plans to allocate the proceeds to develop and commercialise its fifth- and sixth-generation AI chips, as well as advanced AI software and hardware collaborative innovation projects.

China's onshore technology IPOs are on track for their strongest year since 2023 as Beijing ‌seeks to bolster listings of chip and artificial intelligence companies in a push for tech self-reliance amid the ​country's rivalry ​with the U.S.

But ⁠a roughly 45% slump in the shares of Unitree , China's best-known humanoid robot maker, since a more than fivefold jump on its ​Shanghai debut has triggered concerns about bubble risk and whether enthusiasm for AI and robotics has outpaced fundamentals.

CITIC Securities is acting as the lead underwriter for Enflame's deal, with Guotai Haitong Securities and GF Securities as joint lead underwriters. ($1 = 6.7249 Chinese yuan renminbi)