Hong Kong’s reputation for providing growth capital to tech innovators is delivering tangible results.

A report from HKEX, the city’s stock exchange operator, shows that the number of Chapter 18C listings – tech companies with little-to-no revenue but high-growth potential – has skyrocketed this year.

Six firms listed in Hong Kong under Chapter 18C in the first three months of 2026, compared with five for the whole of last year.

These tech pioneers – including AI platform developers, robotics companies and chip designers – raised US$2.5 billion in funds. That’s more than twice the amount raised through Chapter 18C in 2025 and 2024 combined.

As advances in AI reshape industries, Chapter 18C offers a public market entry point for investors seeking direct exposure to the AI cycle, HKEX noted.

Two 18C companies – Shanghai-headquartered MiniMax and Beijing-based Zhipu AI (known internationally as Z.ai) – became the first listed large language model companies in the world when they went public in January.

Two Chinese AI chip designers – Biren Technology and Iluvatar CoreX – also listed in Hong Kong via Chapter 18C in the same month.

AI chip developer Shanghai Xizhi Technology, commonly known as Lightelligence, also went public using the rules in April.

Recent Chapter 18C listings have also attracted strong interest from institutional investors, HKEX observed, including sovereign wealth funds, long-only funds and Chinese Mainland funds.

These performances have helped drive a stellar IPO market in Hong Kong, which accounted for more than a third of global fundraising in the first quarter of 2026.

IPO proceeds in the city ballooned by 454% year-on-year in Q1 to US$13.3 billion. Nearly a fifth of that total came from 18C companies.

Funding innovation

The new rules, which debuted in 2023, have been designed to help early-stage specialist tech companies bankroll hefty R&D investments while steering their innovations towards commercialisation.

Chapter 18C also supports investor protection through tailored eligibility, disclosure and continuing obligation requirements.

Other reforms have also enhanced Hong Kong’s appeal for technology issuers.

These include confidential filing through the Technology Enterprises Channel, or TECH, which launched last year, as well as special allowances for pre-revenue biotech listings, via Chapter 18A, and for firms with weighted voting rights, through Chapter 8A.

HKEX is currently assessing further changes for companies with weighted voting rights, such as lowering market cap thresholds and expanding eligibility to non-tech issuers with new business models.

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is also committed to helping innovative tech firms connect with new partners and source financing, through major events such as the Global Business Forum, which brings together business leaders from high-growth sectors with influential investors and policymakers.

Business development programmes such as Start-up Express, meanwhile, provide global exposure, investor connections and partnership opportunities.

Executives from Yunji Technology, an AI robotics company that listed in Hong Kong via Chapter 18C last year, originally explored opportunities in Hong Kong while taking part in InnoEX, HKTDC’s annual innovation fair, in 2023.

The company returned to InnoEX in 2024, where it discussed cooperation opportunities with The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Later that year, the two parties agreed to set up a joint innovation lab focused on digital intelligence for the hospitality sector.

The robotics innovator also established its international business headquarters in Hong Kong in 2024, paving the way for a bigger global footprint ahead of its 2025 IPO.

This year’s momentum in 18C listings is ongoing, with 14 more public 18C applications as of 30 April.

All this is helping Hong Kong cement its position as a world-leading venue for TMT (technology, media and telecoms) and AI listings.

The financial hub accounted for eight of the world’s 10 largest TMT IPOs so far this year – including two Chapter 18C companies.

HKEX’s report, ‘Hong Kong’s Specialist Tech Fundraising Breakthrough via Chapter 18C’, can be read in full here.