The cross-border e-commerce service provider sector, often called the industry's "infrastructure," is about to hit a major capitalization milestone.

On June 24, Zixun Technology filed its IPO prospectus with the HKEX main board, as disclosed by the exchange. Founded in 2015, the company provides e-commerce software services. Its key products are Ziniao Browser, Zhanfu Browser, and LinkFox AI.

What underpins this veteran's bid for a Hong Kong IPO?

There's more to the story than "a browser company going public."

Zixun's profitability outstrips many peers. According to Frost & Sullivan, from 2023 to 2025 it achieved the highest revenue growth and operating margin: revenue reached RMB 298 million, 470 million, and 687 million, a CAGR of 51.7%; operating profit was RMB 43 million, 147 million, and 257 million, a CAGR of 145.4%.

Ziniao Browser is its core growth engine. Its revenue was RMB 291 million, 411 million, and 578 million from 2023 to 2025, accounting for over 84% of total revenue. Using a prepaid subscription model, it had served over 8 million stores as of June 20, 2026, with net revenue retention exceeding 120%.

The secret lies in cross-border e-commerce itself. Store accounts are sellers' core digital assets; a ban can cause huge losses. Platforms like Amazon and eBay enforce strict rules—flagging IP, environment fingerprints, or behavior can lead to listing removal or account freezing. Managing multiple stores safely has long been a headache.

Ziniao Browser launched in 2018 to address this. It packages scattered cloud resources into an out-of-the-box standardized product, aggregating global cloud vendors into a single SaaS solution. It ensures account security through isolated containers, cookie isolation, and data encryption, plus tiered permission management and audit trails. This improves efficiency and security.

Notably, 65% of Ziniao users are single-account sellers, countering the stereotype that security browsers are only for rule-breaking multi-account operations. They use it to manage their core digital assets securely—essentially risk prevention. Operating multiple stores under one entity is a violation, but registering multiple stores through separate independent entities is legal business structuring. Many listed major sellers use multi-store setups compliantly.

This risk prevention need is growing amid the industry's compliance upgrade. As platforms intensify crackdowns, secure operations software becomes central to account compliance. By 2025 revenue, Ziniao Browser was China's largest e-commerce security operations product, per Frost & Sullivan. Zixun benefits from the structural trend of compliance, not just product demand.

However, the prospectus flags considerable uncertainties: intensifying competition as more players enter; and a reliance on browser-based security products without a proven track record of continuously launching new hits. This awareness shapes Zixun's future strategy.

Zixun pitches itself as "an e-commerce tech firm, not just a browser provider." The IPO proceeds will support three pillars.

First, AI R&D. Its AI application product, LinkFox, is surging: revenue grew from RMB 445,000 in 2023 to 17.448 million in 2025, a CAGR of 526.2%; subscribers doubled to 39,500. Yet R&D expenses remained flat at around RMB 70 million, dropping from 25.2% to 10.1% of revenue. LinkFox's share is still only 2.5% of total revenue, and its gross margin of 26.3% lags far behind the 66.9% of security products. IPO funding will allow heavy investment to evolve LinkFox from a plug-in into an intelligent operations agent, potentially revaluing the company as an industrial AI play.

Second, M&A integration. Its 2024 acquisition of Zhanfu Browser for RMB 10.06 million proved highly effective: Zhanfu contributed RMB 38.25 million in revenue in the first year and RMB 72.76 million the next. This buy-and-build approach—common in enterprise SaaS—can expand Zixun's product ecosystem. Post-IPO, its capital platform will boost M&A capacity, enabling share-based acquisitions and leveraging listing valuation premiums to add tools for product selection, ERP, advertising optimization, and tax compliance.

Third, global expansion. Security operations tools are needed worldwide. European and US sellers face similar pain points. Zixun can replicate its Chinese success overseas. Moreover, a Hong Kong-listed status provides strong credibility: sellers entrust core assets to the platform, so stability matters. Being a listed company builds trust with both domestic and international sellers, aiding globalization.

Source: AMZ123 Cross-border E-commerce
Original link: https://www.amz123.com/t/SXHpBYWh