The AI innovator Beijing Fourth Paradigm Technology, or 4Paradigm, filed a prospectus with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange again on Feb. 23, 2022, about 10 days after the first application lapsed due to failing the pre-listing hearing. Goldman Sachs Group and CICC were its joint sponsors. 

Founded in September 2014, 4Paradigm is a pioneer in the decision-making AI industry. It offers platform-centric AI solutions and leverages core technologies to develop enterprise-class AI products. 

4Paradigm’s AI solutions are now being deployed in almost every major industry in China, including but not limited to finance, retail, manufacturing, healthcare, energy and power, telecommunications, and healthcare. 

There are four main types of AI enterprises domestically. The first category is visual AI enterprises, whose key applications are face recognition and autonomous driving. SenseTime (0020.HK) and Megvii are the two leaders of this space. 

The second type is the voice semantic AI enterprises, as represented by iFlyteck (002230.SZ). 4Paradigm belongs to the third category, which provides AI with reasoning, judgment, and other decision-making capabilities. 

The last category is the AI enterprise of artificial intelligence creations that are designed to replace humans in certain repetitive or dangerous tasks, such as drones and industrial robots.

Information from Tianyacha, a business data and investigation platform, shows that since its inception, 4Paradigm has completed 12 rounds of financing, with investors including Sequoia China, Sinovation Ventures, and other renowned venture funds. In January 2021, 4Paradigm announced the completion of its Series D funding round for $700 million.

Most of its senior management team once worked for China’s search engine giant Baidu (BIDU) in core positions. For example, Dai Wenyuan, the founder and CEO of 4Paradigm, was the former Chief Architect for Baidu’s Phoenix Nest System, the major search service management platform.

4Paradigm’s road to an IPO was a rocky one. In fact, on Aug. 13, 2021, the company filed its prospectus in Hong Kong for the first time. However, the status of 4Paradigm's IPO application was changed to "lapsed" on Feb. 14, 2022, as it failed to pass the hearing within six months. It is still difficult to predict whether the second IPO application will be given the greenlight or not.

According to the prospectus, Dai held 106 million shares, or 24.25% of the company’s equity. Paradigm Management Consulting Partnership, an option pool, held 14.61% and Sequoia Capital China owned 7.37%.