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Duiba: The Hyperbolic Leap from Points Mall SaaS to the First AI Short Drama Stock on the HKEX

Founded: Chen Xiaoliang · Duiba Group

JOURNEY

Key Fields

FIELD STAMPS
IndustryContent / Creator Economy
RegionChina
ScaleMid-size
ChannelOther

Origin

In 2014, Chen Xiaoliang founded Duiba in Hangzhou, launching a points mall SaaS tool to help apps quickly build points systems. The tool was offered for free, with Duiba monetizing through ad placements on the points redemption pages—essentially a traffic business using SaaS as a customer acquisition funnel. This model allowed Duiba to rapidly cover a large number of apps, leading to its IPO on the HKEX in 2019. However, the points-based advertising market was limited, and growth slowed post-IPO. The company was forced to seek a second curve capable of supporting greater revenue, ultimately betting on AI short dramas.

Milestones

2014
Founding Phase PMF
In 2014, Chen Xiaoliang founded Duiba in Hangzhou and launched a points mall SaaS tool to help apps quickly build points redemption systems. By exchanging free tools for small and medium-sized app clients and then embedding ad slots on redemption pages for monetization, the company accumulated its first batch of traffic distribution capabilities, laying the foundation of customer and data assets for its subsequent transformation.
2019
IPO Phase Turning Point
In 2019, Duiba was listed on the HKEX (stock code 01753), becoming the first points SaaS stock in the capital market. Before the IPO, the company had formed a dual-revenue structure of points SaaS and interactive advertising, with the advertising business contributing the majority of revenue; the SaaS tool was essentially a customer acquisition entry point. The listing provided the capital leverage for the subsequent second curve.
2024
Transformation Phase Inflection Point
The points SaaS market reached its ceiling, and the market stopped buying into the points mall narrative. The company launched a second venture, pivoting to AI short dramas. The early team used AI tools to generate short drama content in batches, but later editing relied on manual labor, resulting in long production cycles per episode and unstable hit rates. Content capacity and hit probability during the early transformation phase did not meet expectations.
2026
Explosive Growth Phase PMF
AI short drama revenue reached 223 million RMB, with significant growth in the interim report. Ranking second in the Douyin AI short drama track, the company was dubbed by financial media as the first AI short drama stock on the HKEX. IP works like 'AI Sun Wukong' broke into prime-time slots, proving that large-scale commercialization of AI short dramas is viable and entering a period of performance realization.
2026
Revaluation Phase Growth
Financial media outlets such as TMTPost, InvestGo, and Hong Kong Commercial Daily reported extensively on the logic behind Duiba's value revaluation from SaaS to AI short dramas. The industry landscape, with Mango TV leading in AI short dramas and Duiba following, became increasingly clear. The market began to price Duiba using the logic of a content platform rather than a SaaS company.

Turning Points

  • 2019 IPO on the HKEX (stock code 01753), where the SaaS plus advertising narrative began to be tested by the public market.
  • Around 2024, growth in points SaaS hit a ceiling; as the old narrative lost its appeal, the company bet on AI short dramas as its second growth curve.
  • 2026 interim report showed 223 million RMB in AI short drama revenue, ranking second on Douyin, leading the market to reprice the company as the first AI short drama stock.

Failures & Pitfalls

  • The points mall SaaS model reached a growth ceiling, and the capital market lost interest in the points narrative, forcing the listed company to find a new path.
  • Early AI short drama production relied on manual editing, leading to high per-episode costs, slow output, and low hit rates.
  • Experiments involving 'skin-swapping' live-action dramas into AI-generated content were identified by audiences; the gap in quality between AI and live-action was obvious, resulting in poor content performance.

关键成功要素

  • Using free points SaaS to acquire app clients, then converting redemption pages into ad distribution portals.
  • Migrating traffic and algorithmic distribution experience accumulated during the SaaS phase to short drama topic selection and ad placement.
  • Standardizing AI short drama production into a pipeline: script generation, storyboarding, video generation, and batch editing.
  • Seizing the 'first AI short drama stock on the HKEX' identity early to gain dual endorsement from media and capital.
  • Leveraging the listed company's capital to support dual investment in AI computing power and content teams.

Lessons

  • Customer and traffic assets from the first curve act as compound interest that does not need to be re-accumulated when starting the second curve.
  • For new categories, one must seize the naming rights; the 'first stock' label can directly rewrite valuation systems.
  • AI technology cost reduction must translate into hit rates; otherwise, it is just playing the cost game all over again.
  • The transformation window for a listed company comes from the capital market's willingness to provide a premium for a new story even after the old business has peaked.

Core Data

  • 2026 Interim Report AI Short Drama Revenue：223 million RMB (based on public data, independent verification not performed)
  • Stock Code：01753.HK (based on public data, independent verification not performed)
  • Listing Year：2019 (based on public data)
  • Douyin AI Short Drama Ranking：2nd place (based on public data, independent verification not performed)
  • Market Title：First AI short drama stock on the HKEX (based on public data, independent verification not performed)

Competitors / Peers

Mango TV is a pioneer in AI short drama layout among long-video platforms, holding content production and artist resources. Kunlun Wanwei founder Fang Han initiated a 3-year price war at 40% of market rates, aiming to disrupt the AI video production tool market and targeting the film, television, and gaming tool platform sector. AI short drama entrepreneurs like Zhu Jiang of Jingying Technology emphasize the refinement of creator tools and workflows to avoid direct competition with platforms. Duiba's advantage lies in its combination of traffic distribution experience from the SaaS era and the capital leverage of a listed company, but it is essentially transitioning from a 'shovel seller' to a 'gold miner,' and the competitive landscape with native content platforms and tool vendors remains unstable.

Sources

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⚠️ This entry draws on self-reported accounts and public reporting, not independently verified, and is not investment, startup, or legal advice; revenue figures are case-specific and not representative of typical results.