(Yicai Global) Aug. 30 -- SenseTime, China’s biggest artificial intelligence company, has filed for an initial pubic offering in Hong Kong.

The Beijing-based firm filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Aug. 27, without disclosing the offering price or size. But people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Aug. 19 that SenseTime was seeking to raise up to USD2 billion.

SenseTime, which is blacklisted in the US, was valued at about USD12 billion after its pre-IPO financing at the end of last year, financial media Yixian reported earlier. It did not disclose the exact amount or the names of the investors.

China’s leading companies in computer vision have all now kicked off IPOs. CloudWalk Technology is set to become the first to go public as its listing on Shanghai’s Star Market was confirmed last month, while Megvii Technology’s application is being reviewed. Yitu Technology has withdrawn its bid to join he Star Market.

Founder Tang Xiaoou is SenseTime’s largest shareholder with a stake of about 22 percent. Other key executives own a total of about 13 percent. Japanese investment giant SoftBank holds 14.9 percent, while Alibaba’s e-commerce platform Taobao China has 7.6 percent.

Sixty percent of the IPO’s proceeds will be used to enhance research and development, including strengthening that of AI chip design. The rest of the money will be used for business expansion, outbound investment, and general corporate purposes.

Known for its facial-recognition technology, SenseTime was founded in Hong Kong in 2014. The company was Asia’s largest AI firm by revenue last year, the IPO prospectus noted, citing research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.

Due to heavy R&D investments, SenseTime has never made a profit. The company reported a net loss of CNY12.2 billion (USD1.9 billion) last year, versus CNY5 billion (USD773.2 million) in 2019 and CNY3.4 billion in 2018. Revenue grew to CNY3.4 billion in 2020 from CNY3 billion in 2019 and CNY1.9 billion in 2018.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione