ModelBest (Beijing ModelBest Technology) has officially filed for listing guidance with the CSRC, with CITIC Securities as sponsor. The Tsinghua NLP lab spin-off, a pioneer in on-device foundation models, could become one of the first AI companies to benefit from the STAR Market's revised Listing Standard 5.
IPO Timeline: Share Restructuring and Guidance Filing Complete
On August 5, 2026, ModelBest completed its shareholding restructuring, formally launching its A-share IPO process. On August 13, the company filed for listing guidance with the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), naming CITIC Securities as its sponsor.
While the filing does not specify the target board, market consensus points to the STAR Market. This expectation is grounded in a landmark regulatory shift: on June 17, 2026, the Shanghai Stock Exchange issued new guidelines that explicitly allow high-quality AI large-model companies without significant revenue to apply under Listing Standard 5, provided at least one large-model product is live and operating at scale.
AI Company Listing Progress Overview:
| Company | Status | Target Market | Core Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zhipu AI | Completed | Hong Kong | General LLM |
| MiniMax | In Progress | STAR Market | Multimodal LLM |
| ModelBest | Guidance Filed | STAR Market (Expected) | On-Device LLM |
Technology Moat: MiniCPM Series and the Law of Density
Founded in August 2022 and spun out of Tsinghua University's NLP lab, ModelBest positions itself as a pioneer in on-device foundation models. Its proprietary MiniCPM series, renowned for high inference efficiency, now powers multiple application scenarios:
- Automotive HMI: In-car voice assistants and intelligent cockpit semantic understanding
- Smart Home: Offline voice control and local semantic processing
- AI Phones: On-device inference and privacy-preserving intelligent assistants
- AI PCs: Local large model execution and productivity tool enhancement
To date, the MiniCPM series has been downloaded over 43 million times globally.
On the research front, ModelBest has proposed the "Law of Density," mapping the exponential growth of model intelligence density. The company's research team has published multiple papers at top-tier international conferences, continuously pushing the theoretical boundaries of on-device AI.
Industry Significance: STAR Market Opens Funding Channel for AI Firms
ModelBest's IPO filing carries symbolic weight. AI large-model companies have long faced the dilemma of high R&D costs, long commercialization cycles, and limited short-term profitability—creating a natural barrier under traditional listing standards.
The STAR Market's Listing Standard 5 policy adjustment breaks this deadlock, carving out a new path to capital markets for technology-driven AI enterprises:
- Lowered Revenue Thresholds: Revenue scale is no longer the core evaluation metric
- Emphasis on Technical Barriers: Product deployment scale and operational metrics serve as alternative criteria
- Attraction of Long-Term Capital: Provides sustainable funding for AI research and development
This policy signal benefits not only ModelBest but also sets clear IPO expectations for peers in the same赛道. Stay updated on AI industry capital trends at EX1000.COM.
Outlook: On-Device AI Market Accelerates
With continuous improvements in edge computing power and breakthroughs in model compression technology, the commercial prospects for on-device large models are becoming increasingly clear. If successful, ModelBest's listing would make it the first pure on-device LLM concept stock on the A-share market, offering investors direct exposure to the on-device AI赛道.
