(Aug 2): The initial public offering of Shanghai Enflame Technology Co, a company backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd, drew strong demand from retail investors as the last of the so-called “four little dragons” of leading Chinese artificial intelligence chipmakers taps the public market.
The retail portion of the IPO was 4,073 times subscribed, with individual investors submitting seven million orders for about 5.98 trillion yuan (RM3.6 trillion) of shares, according to a Bloomberg calculation based on an exchange filing released Wednesday. That compares to the 7.1-trillion-yuan retail order book in memory chipmaker CXMT Corp’s blockbuster offering in July, the second-biggest China debut ever.
Enflame, in which Tencent holds a 20% stake and remains a dominant customer, priced its offering on Shanghai’s technology-heavy STAR Market at 142.18 yuan per share, raising about 6.12 billion yuan. The sale will consist of about 43 million shares, or 10% of its enlarged share capital following the IPO.
China’s AI spending boom is fuelling a wave of listings across the supply chain. Though smaller than industry leaders such as Huawei Technologies Co and Cambricon Technologies Corp, Enflame is among a handful of startups seeking to build China’s domestic AI-chip industry. Known for its AI accelerators used in cloud and data centre workloads, the company has benefited from growing demand for computing power.
Established in 2018, Enflame is the last of the country’s four little dragons to reach the public market, following Moore Threads Technology Co, Biren Technology Co and MetaX Integrated Circuits. The group has generated strong investor interest, with Moore Threads soaring 425% on its debut in December and helping fuel enthusiasm for China’s emerging AI chip champions.
“China’s AI computing demand continues to outstrip domestic supply," SWS Research analysts including Peng Wenyu wrote in a note. “Nvidia still commanded 55% of China’s AI accelerator shipments in 2025, underscoring the country’s reliance on foreign chips. Enflame, by comparison, held an estimated 1.7% market share, placing it among the leading domestic AI chipmakers.”
Enflame’s strong relationship with Tencent sets it apart from its peers. Sales to the tech giant accounted for 84% of total revenue in 2025, up from around 38% the previous year. Tencent’s internet and cloud platforms serve as the key commercial base for Enflame’s chips, which are used in large data centres, powering applications like chatbots, recommendation systems and generative AI.
On the flip side, it may take time before the company becomes profitable. Its net loss narrowed to 1.2 billion yuan in 2025, from 1.5 billion yuan the previous year, and Enflame forecast a loss of about 600 million yuan in the first half. Revenue, meanwhile, is expected to more than triple year-on-year to a range of 10.6 billion to 11.5 billion yuan in the first half, after growing at a compound annual rate of more than 80% between 2023 and 2025.
“Tencent’s demand for AI accelerator cards has far exceeded the company’s supply capacity,” Enflame said in its prospectus, adding it has prioritised key accounts and leveraged large-scale, high-demand deployments to refine its technology.
Uploaded by Arion Yeow