Summary in Plain Language
The technology-related IPOs on the A-share market in the first 8 months of 2026 have shown particularly impressive numbers: the total funds raised amounted to 133.1 billion yuan, accounting for 70% of the total IPO funding in the entire market, the highest proportion since 2016. Many people are claiming that a spring of technology financing has arrived. However, upon closer examination, this surge is not a general improvement across the entire industry; it's mainly due to a few large-scale projects driving the growth. Most small and medium-sized tech companies have only raised a few hundred million yuan each, and 70% of the funds have ended up in the hands of the leading players in the semiconductor sector, with ordinary tech entrepreneurs receiving very little benefit.
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Detailed Explanation
1. Fundraising has seemingly tripled, but it's just a return from a low point, not yet reaching the previous peak
Many people think we've entered a period of massive financing growth because this year's tech IPOs raised three times as much as in 2024 (44.6 billion yuan). This is an illusion caused by comparing the current figure to the lowest point. For example, if you earned 370,000 yuan a year working normally in 2022, but then lost your job and only earned a little over 40,000 yuan in 2024, and this year you earned 130,000 yuan in the first 8 months, you can't say you've returned to your previous high-income level. The 133.1 billion yuan raised this year is less than half of what was raised in 2022. From 2020 to 2023, tech IPOs consistently raised over 200 billion yuan annually. The current situation can only be described as a recovery from a low point, not a full expansion.
2. The number of listings has increased by 40%, but most of the activity comes from the Beijing Stock Exchange
In the first 8 months of this year, 53 tech companies went public, a 43% increase from the same period last year. It might seem like the listing process has become more accessible, but this increase is largely due to the Beijing Stock Exchange. The total number of tech companies listed on other main boards, the Science and Technology Innovation Board, and the GEM (Growth Enterprise Market) actually decreased by 6 compared to last year. The new listings were all from the Beijing Stock Exchange. On average, these companies raised only 350 million yuan each, with the largest amount being just over 800 million yuan. These are mostly local small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises that used the funds to buy equipment and expand their production. It's not like we're seeing a surge of industry giants going public.
3. 68% of the funds went to the top 5 companies; nearly 50% of the small and medium-sized tech companies got nothing
The most alarming aspect of this year's tech IPOs is the extreme distribution of funds: the top 5 companies (such as Changxin Technology and Hikvision) raised a total of 90.9 billion yuan, accounting for 68.3% of the total funds. That means more than two-thirds of the money went to just five companies. In the past 10 years, the top 5 tech IPOs on the A-share market averaged only 31.8% of the total funding. This year, that figure has more than doubled. Of the remaining 48 tech companies, 64% raised less than 1 billion yuan each, with dozens of them together raising only 13% of the total funds. It's like if 100 students in a class were given a total of 1,000 yuan in scholarships, with the top 5 students getting 680 yuan and the remaining 95 students getting just over 130 yuan each. You can't say the whole class received high scholarships!
4. Funds are flowing in a concentrated manner: from the entire market to tech, then to semiconductors, and finally to a few key players
Just because tech IPOs account for 70% of the total market funding doesn't mean the entire tech industry is doing well. This figure is skewed by a few large projects. If we exclude the 66.6 billion yuan raised by Changxin Technology, the total funds raised by the remaining 52 tech companies would drop to 35% of the market's total. To put it more clearly, the 10 semiconductor companies that went public this year received 61% of the tech industry's funding, and 81.7% of that came from the 66.6 billion yuan raised by Changxin. In essence, the A-share market is using its resources to support a few key semiconductor giants, with little additional funding going to other tech sectors such as software, hardware, and defense.
5. There's no need to worry about IPOs depleting the stock market; other factors are a bigger concern
Many investors worry that IPOs are draining the market's funds, but this is a misconception. In the first 8 months of this year, the total IPO funding was only 190 billion yuan, while private placements and refinancing by listed companies amounted to over 420 billion yuan. Major shareholders have already cashed out nearly 500 billion yuan by June, and listed companies have distributed over 740 billion yuan in dividends. The scale of IPOs is not even comparable to the amount of money flowing out through these other channels. Instead of worrying about IPOs, it's more important to focus on whether these leading tech companies that have raised billions are actually investing that money in research and development to make breakthroughs. If these giants use the funds to solve the critical issues in domestic semiconductors, it could boost the entire tech sector, which would be much more meaningful than worrying about short-term funding flows.