Biren Raises $892M to Ramp GPU Production as US Export Controls Open China Market

Shanghai Biren Technology is selling HK$7 billion (about $892.5 million) in new shares to ramp up production of its next-generation GPUs, capitalizing on a rare opening created by US export controls that keep Nvidia's most powerful chips out of China. The company, which went public in Hong Kong in January, has seen its stock surge nearly 150% since the IPO.

Biren will issue 153 million new shares at HK$46.2 each, a 9.9% discount to Friday's close. The company had already spent more than 70% of its listing proceeds by the end of June, according to its filing.

Funds Allocated for Production and R&D

Biren said 60% of the proceeds will fund the commercialisation and mass production of its next-generation general-purpose GPUs. Another 20% goes to research, with the rest for investments and working capital. The raise is aggressive, but so is the burn rate as the company races to meet demand from Chinese cloud providers and AI data centers.

• 60% for commercialisation and mass production of next-gen GPUs
• 20% for research and development
• 20% for investments and working capital
• 153 million new shares issued at HK$46.2 each
• Stock up 150% since January Hong Kong IPO

Competitive Landscape Heats Up

Biren competes with domestic rivals Moore Threads, MetaX, and Cambricon, all chasing the same buyers. MetaX said in June it would seek a Hong Kong listing, while Kunlunxin, the chip unit of Baidu, is reportedly targeting a valuation of at least 100 billion yuan (about $14.7 billion) for its own Hong Kong float. Biren's chips remain a step behind Nvidia's, and China's most powerful AI accelerators still tend to be custom designs from Huawei and others. But with foreign supply choked off, "good enough" and "made in China" is a real business worth nearly $900 million of fresh capital. The gap Nvidia leaves behind is the whole opportunity.