- Approval brings the final member of China’s leading GPU startups one step closer to listing on the STAR Market
- Revenue growth accelerates, but heavy losses, R&D burn and Tencent reliance remain central risks
Shanghai-based AI chipmaker Enflame Technology (燧原科技) won approval from the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s STAR Market listing committee on June 15, marking a key step toward its IPO and completing the group commonly referred to as China’s “Four GPU Dragons.”
The GPU ‘Quartet’
The cohort includes Moore Threads (摩尔线程) and MetaX (沐曦股份), both listed on Shanghai’s STAR Market in December 2025, as well as Biren Technology (壁仞科技), which went public in Hong Kong in January 2026, alongside Enflame’s pending STAR Market IPO.
Behind the milestone is a financial profile defined by strong growth and sustained losses. Revenue rose from 301 million yuan ($44.55 million) in 2023 to 990 million yuan in 2025, a compound annual growth rate of 83.76%.
Net losses attributable to shareholders remained significant at 1.665 billion yuan, 1.51 billion yuan and 1.164 billion yuan over the same period, bringing cumulative losses since 2022 to about a whopping 5.8 billion yuan.
R&D intensity
The losses stem primarily from sustained R&D intensity. Enflame spent 1.228 billion yuan, 1.312 billion yuan and 1.135 billion yuan on research between 2023 and 2025, consistently exceeding revenue and peaking at more than four times sales in 2023.
This means that for every 1 yuan the company earns in revenue, it spends 4 yuan on R&D — a costly norm for almost every player in the loss-making AI chip sector.
The spending pattern reflects broader industry dynamics in China’s AI chip sector, where companies are prioritizing rapid architecture iteration and software-hardware co-design at the expense of near-term profitability.
Yet among the “Four GPU Dragons,” Enflame still ranks near the top in terms of net losses.
Financial structure concerns have also drawn attention. Total liabilities surged to 9 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2026, up 554.58% from 1.375 billion yuan at the end of 2025.
The company said the increase was driven by customer prepayments and bank borrowing to secure upstream manufacturing capacity.
Reliance on Tencent
However, the sharp rise alongside 300 million yuan in first-quarter revenue has raised questions about cash flow visibility.
Customer concentration remains a central risk factor. Internet giant Tencent holds a 19.95% stake and accounted for 83.79% of Enflame’s revenue in 2025.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange questioned this dependency during its review process. Enflame said it is actively expanding its non-Tencent customer base.
Market skepticism
The company plans to raise 6 billion yuan through its IPO to fund development and commercialization of its fifth- and sixth-generation AI chips.
Enflame expects first-half 2026 revenue to reach 1.06-1.15 billion yuan, with losses expected to narrow.
While the approval removes a major regulatory hurdle, the market focus is now on whether Enflame can broaden its customer base and transition from high-intensity R&D spending to more durable commercial scale.
