China’s second-most valuable AI startup is setting its sights on the public markets, and the timeline is aggressive. Baichuan Intelligence, founded in April 2023 by Wang Xiaochuan, is advancing fundraising plans with a target IPO in 2027, according to remarks Wang made during a January 13, 2026 media briefing.
The company hasn’t formally kicked off the IPO process yet. But when your Series A round pulls in roughly 5 billion yuan, about $700 million, the public markets start feeling less like an aspiration and more like an inevitability.
A startup that skipped the awkward phase
The company’s Series A closed in July 2024, raising approximately 5 billion yuan, somewhere in the $690 million to $700 million range. That round valued Baichuan at over 20 billion yuan, which works out to more than $2.7 billion.
The investor list reads like a who’s who of Chinese tech. Alibaba, Tencent, and Xiaomi all participated, alongside municipal AI investment funds.
