KEY STAT | US-blacklisted AI company Yitu files for Shanghai IPO

Artificial intelligence (AI) developer Yitu Technology, which is banned from conducting business in the US since 2018, on Thursday filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, KrASIA has learned.

With its main revenue coming from selling smart city, healthcare, and other AI solutions to public service institutes and businesses, Yitu has provided AI hardware and software to over 800 clients in China in the past years, according to the prospectus.

In 2019, the firm registered an annual revenue of USD 107 million and a net loss of USD 54 million. In the first half of 2020, the revenue reached USD 57 million, while the net loss increased to USD 190 million.

China’s cash-burning AI companies have encountered difficulties with public fundraising due to the blacklisting by the US government. Earlier, computer vision specialists SenseTime and Megvii had to defer their listing plans.

Read this: TECH PANORAMA | How China’s four tigers of AI tech torn between hyped valuation and profitability dilemma [Update]

This article is part of KrASIA’s “Key Stat” series, where KrASIA picks and presents the most significant figures of the day’s technology and business world.