(Yicai Global) Feb. 24 -- Chinese artificial intelligence startup Beijing Fourth Paradigm Technology, which trades as 4Paradigm, has resubmitted its application to go public on the Hong Kong stock exchange just 10 days after the first application expired after it failed to pass the bourse’s listing hearing.

Goldman Sachs Group and China International Capital Corp. are co-sponsors, according to a filing to the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing yesterday. The funds will be used to boost research and development, recruit AI and software engineers, promote brand awareness and make strategic acquisitions. No details were given about the size of the initial public offering.

4Paradigm applied to go public in Hong Kong on Aug. 13 last year but appears not to have responded to enquiries by the China Securities Regulatory Commission as to whether its business involves areas where foreign investment is prohibited and asking it to provide supplementary information about its profit model and equity structure. It has six months after filing in which to satisfy the hearing.

4Paradigm was valued at USD2 billion after its C-round fundraising in April 2020. It has since completed a D-round in January last year raising another USD700 million. Founded in 2014, the Beijing-based company has secured 12 rounds of financing to-date. Investors include Sequoia China and Sinovation Ventures.

Due to high spending on research and development, the company has never made a profit. It logged losses of CNY1.4 billion (USD221.6 million) in the first nine months of 2021 and has lost CNY3.3 billion since 2018. Revenue over the period more than doubled, though, from the year before to CNY1.3 billion (USD205.9 million).

Founder and Chief Executive Dai Wenyuan, who used to work at tech giants Baidu and Huawi Technologies, holds a 24.2 percent stake in the company, according to the firm’s IPO prospectus. Paradigm (Tianjin) Management Consulting Partnership owns 14.6 percent equity and Sequoia Capital China 7.3 percent.

4Paradigm is an emerging global leader in enterprise-grade AI, including both platforms and applications. 4Paradigm AI is now deployed at clients in virtually every major sector in China, including finance, retail, manufacturing, energy, healthcare, internet, logistics and agriculture.

Editor: Kim Taylor