Megvii Technology files for Hong Kong offering

Artificial intelligence major Megvii Technology Ltd, backed by Alibaba Group, has filed for an initial public offering, making it the first Chinese mainland AI company to go public in Hong Kong.

The move came after the company closed its Series D round of financing in May, raising $750 million from investors including Bank of China Group Investment Ltd, and a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Beijing-based Megvii is best known for its facial recognition platform Face++, and the eight-year-old company said it accounted for more than 60 percent of China's cloud-based facial recognition market by revenue in 2018, citing data from market research firm China Insights Consultancy.