LiblibAI nets $130m in China's 2025 largest AI app investment

LiblibAI, a Beijing-based AI application startup, has raised US$130 million in a series B round led by Sequoia China, CMC Capital, and a strategic investor.

Shunwei Capital, Source Code Capital, Future Capital, and Yingce Capital also joined, increasing their stakes.

Vision Plus Capital served as the exclusive financial adviser.

This marks the largest single AI application investment in China’s capital market so far in 2025.

Founded in late 2023, LiblibAI has become China’s largest multimodal AI model and creative community, supporting image, video, 3D content creation, and LoRA training.

The platform has nurtured over 20 million AI creators in illustration, photography, ecommerce, posters, and IP design.

With its 2.0 launch in October 2025, LiblibAI upgraded to a full AI professional creative studio.

The new funding will accelerate global expansion and build a multimodal content ecosystem for creators worldwide.

🔗 Source: Pandaily

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

LiblibAI’s $130 million raise tests monetization behind the hype

LiblibAI is a China-based multimodal AI creative platform that raised $130 million in its Series B, the country’s largest AI application round this year 1. Its reported 2024 revenue was $206.68 million 2, which signals that investors prioritize growth potential over proven profits.
The company shifted from a “tool aggregator” to an “AI professional creative studio” in October 2025 3. That move signals it still seeks a durable business model, despite the claim of 20 million creators.
Backers include HongShan (formerly Sequoia China, a venture capital firm) and CMC Capital (a China-based private equity investor) who chase application-layer innovation (software built on top of base AI models) as foundational models commoditize 4. LiblibAI has not shared counts of paying users or Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), so product-market fit stays unclear.

AI content platforms face EU deepfake compliance costs by 2026

LiblibAI’s expansion will meet the EU AI Act (the European Union’s AI regulation) deepfake labeling rules on August 2, 2026 5. Deepfakes are synthetic content that convincingly imitates real people or events. Platforms must add machine-readable disclosures for AI-generated or manipulated media, with penalties up to €35 million or 7% of global revenue 6.
Platform operators should invest now in automated labeling and detection systems, since Article 50 requires disclosure even for third-party material that arrives unlabeled 5. This shift creates demand for turnkey compliance tools.
Investors need to check regulatory readiness. China’s September 2025 watermarking rules 7 and EU transparency obligations 5 create dual-market compliance burdens that can alter unit economics for platforms like LiblibAI operating in both regions.