Introduction:
In early June 2025, on the final working day before the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, Shenzhen-based Insta360 officially opened for subscription on the STAR Market. The IPO price was set at 47.27 yuan per share (approximately USD $6.50). This global leader in panoramic cameras, led by post-90s founder Liu Jingkang, has finally reached the capital markets after nearly five years of marathon IPO preparation.
Forged Over a Decade: The Global Rise of China’s Imaging Tech
Insta360, born in an ordinary office in Shenzhen, has spent ten years crafting a made-in-China tech legend. Founder Liu Jingkang, born in 1991, was once a tech prodigy at Nanjing University known for cracking Zhou Hongyi’s mobile number. After rejecting invitations from both Kai-Fu Lee and Zhou Hongyi, he resolutely chose the path of entrepreneurship.
When the company was founded in 2015, Liu held the first-generation panoramic camera, the Nano. He may have already envisioned the day, ten years later, when he would ring the listing bell. The turning point came in 2017 when a viral “eagle-eye view” 360° video caused a sensation on the internet, giving global users their first intuitive taste of panoramic video’s allure.
The subsequent revenue growth was remarkable.
In 2018, annual revenue neared 300 million yuan (approx. USD $41.5 million).
In 2019, it grew 127.9%.
By 2021, revenue broke the 1 billion yuan mark (approx. USD $138 million).
In 2022, it doubled to 2 billion yuan (approx. USD $276 million).
In 2023, it reached a stunning 4 billion yuan (approx. USD $552 million).
This growth curve was powered by Insta360’s global market expansion. Currently, Insta360 products are sold in over 200 countries and regions worldwide, with overseas revenue accounting for a staggering 80% of total sales.
In 2023, the company held a 67.2% global market share in the consumer panoramic camera segment, maintaining its No. 1 global position for six consecutive years. According to Google’s “BrandZ Top 50 Chinese Global Brands 2024” report, Insta360 ranked 27th.
Twists and Turns: A Four-Year Sprint to the STAR Market
Insta360’s journey to IPO has been one of the most tortuous among Chinese tech firms.
In July 2020, the company submitted its initial application to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
By October that year, the application was officially accepted.
In September 2021, Insta360 passed the STAR Market Listing Committee’s review.
By January 2022, the IPO entered the “registration submission” stage.
But just when everything seemed to be proceeding smoothly, the listing process hit an unexpected three-year pause.
Public information shows that the STAR Market stopped updating the project’s progress after June 2022. It wasn’t until September 30, 2024, that the project status showed: financial materials had expired and needed resubmission. On December 31, 2024, the company refiled updated financials.
The prolonged delay placed enormous pressure on Liu Jingkang. In August 2024, he vented in a WeChat post: “Not asking for approval—only fairness. Please don’t break the hearts of 2,000 post-90s workers who truly want to make the world recognize Chinese innovation and tech rise.”
In the post, Liu revealed that over the four-year IPO delay, the company’s performance grew fourfold—going from 1/40th the size of industry leader GoPro in 2017 to surpassing it by the first half of 2024.
In its nine years of existence, Insta360 accumulated over 1 billion yuan (approx. USD $138 million) in profit, with annual exports generating USD $400 million.
The post caused a stir in the industry. In the wake of public outcry, Liu issued an apology and mentioned the possibility of modifying or even withdrawing the IPO plan. In December 2024, Bloomberg cited sources saying Insta360 was considering pivoting to a Hong Kong IPO, targeting a valuation of at least 15 billion yuan (approx. USD $2.07 billion).
Technological Breakthrough: From GoPro’s Shadow to Global Champion
Insta360’s rise tells the story of a Chinese tech company evolving from follower to leader. When the company was founded, the action camera market was dominated by American brand GoPro. In 2014, GoPro completed what was considered one of the most successful IPOs in recent U.S. tech history, with its valuation once exceeding USD $15 billion.
Liu’s team adopted a differentiated strategy by targeting the “panoramic + action” hybrid camera segment. While GoPro was offering 1080p quality for 3,000 yuan (approx. USD $415), Insta360 delivered 8K panoramic shooting and AI auto-editing at the same price.
Heavy R&D investment was key to victory. For the past three years, annual R&D spending has exceeded 100 million yuan (approx. USD $13.8 million), with nearly 50% of staff being R&D personnel. The company holds 238 domestic and international patents. Its proprietary Optical Flow technology solved the pain point of long processing times required for stitching panoramic video.
Market data shows that in 2023, Insta360 achieved 3.14 billion yuan (approx. USD $433 million) in sales, capturing 67.2% of the global consumer panoramic camera market. In the action camera field, Insta360 also rose to the global No. 2 position, closely trailing GoPro.
Meanwhile, GoPro has fallen into decline. From Q3 2022 to Q1 2024, GoPro experienced six consecutive quarters of revenue decline.
A New Battlefield Post-IPO: Fierce Competition Ahead
Now listed on the STAR Market, Insta360 faces a more complex competitive landscape. The global smart handheld imaging device market has grown rapidly—from 16.43 billion yuan (approx. USD $2.26 billion) in 2017 to 36.47 billion yuan (approx. USD $5.01 billion) in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate of 14.2%.
Forecasts suggest that by 2027, the North American market will reach 20.57 billion yuan (approx. USD $2.83 billion), Europe 15.11 billion yuan (approx. USD $2.08 billion), and China 4.45 billion yuan (approx. USD $613 million). Despite the vast market potential, Insta360’s competition has shifted from global giants to powerful domestic rivals.
Drone leader DJI has aggressively entered the action camera space, with its Action series often compared head-to-head with Insta360. Facing such competition, Liu stated at the 2024 company annual meeting: “Thank you, DJI. Thank you, GoPro.”
The competition also heats up in the talent arena. Liu once posted that a rival hardware company launched a “Finger-Cutting Plan,” poaching Insta360 staff with triple salaries only to lay them off three months later. He even commented on Dreame founder Yu Hao’s WeChat: “Soon every industry will bear your surname. At last, we’ll be free from vicious competition.”
Innovative Marketing Builds a Moat
Insta360 has built a protective moat through innovative marketing. The company created a three-tiered dissemination system: PGC explosion → KOL virality → UGC accumulation.
After the “eagle-eye view” video garnered over 50 million views on YouTube in 2017, Insta360 launched a creative challenge on TikTok, resulting in over 800,000 user-generated videos.
Its channel strategy is equally unique. The company built a three-dimensional network:
Amazon traffic → independent site retention → offline experience.
In 2024, revenue from its independent site reached 472 million yuan (approx. USD $66 million), surpassing Amazon’s 426 million yuan (approx. USD $59.5 million) for the first time.
Its Fifth Avenue flagship in New York, featuring ski-simulation and VR livestreaming, boosted in-store conversion rates to 18%.
A New Chapter in the Global Rise of “Made in China”
With its IPO approval, Insta360 now has more capital ammunition to embrace future market shifts.
When the company filed its prospectus in 2020, it aimed to raise 464 million yuan (approx. USD $64.8 million) with an estimated valuation of 4.64 billion yuan (approx. USD $647 million).
By late 2024, when it considered a Hong Kong IPO, its valuation target had risen to 15 billion yuan (approx. USD $2.07 billion).
Investor recognition is grounded in solid performance. According to the prospectus, from 2021 to 2023, revenue rose from 1.33 billion yuan (approx. USD $185 million) to 3.64 billion yuan (approx. USD $508 million); net profit rose from 266 million yuan (approx. USD $37 million) to 830 million yuan (approx. USD $116 million); gross margin remained in the 50–56% range.
In H1 2024, revenue reached 2.43 billion yuan (approx. USD $339 million), with net profit at 518 million yuan (approx. USD $72.3 million). Over the past three years, revenue CAGR was an impressive 65.46%, ranking high among STAR Market companies.
As the global outdoor sports enthusiast population grows—currently at 1.22 billion with a CAGR of 19.4% from 2017–2023 and expected to reach 1.77 billion by 2027—Insta360 sees great potential.
With a firm foothold in Western markets, the company is now eyeing emerging ones. South Korea is growing fast. In China, while market share is currently around 21%, rapid growth is expected by 2027.
The core competitiveness of Insta360 lies in continuous tech innovation and scenario-based application. From extreme sports fans to everyday consumers, the company has used tech accessibility to break out from “niche geek” to “mainstream hit.”
[Disclaimer]: The above content reflects analysis of publicly available information, expert insights, and BCC research. It does not constitute investment advice. BCC is not responsible for any losses resulting from reliance on the views expressed herein. Investors should exercise caution.