Insta360, the Chinese action camera maker challenging GoPro, surged 285 per cent in its trading debut on Shanghai’s Star Market after raising 1.9 billion yuan (US$264.5 million) in the city’s largest initial public offering (IPO) in 17 months. Max Richter, who co-founded the company with 34-year-old Chinese entrepreneur Liu Jingkang in 2015, said Insta360 is “committed to expanding [its] global presence and elevating brand influence to boost [its] market share worldwide”. He identified China, the US, Europe, Japan and South Korea as key markets for the company. Richter, who is also the vice-president of marketing, spoke to the Post ahead of the company’s debut. It is trading under the company’s official name, Arashi Vision. Insta360 operates an offline retail network spanning more than 60 countries and sells globally through online platforms including Amazon.com. The company is “actively fostering emerging markets in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, and exploring new opportunities in Latin America and Africa”, Richter said. Best known for its 360-degree cameras, action cameras and webcams, Insta360 has built a following among adventure enthusiasts, vloggers and other content creators. The company has partnered with Western brands such as Google, to help capture Street View images, and Adobe, integrating into the Premiere Pro video editing workflow with a plug-in. Insta360 was the leading brand of consumer 360-degree cameras in 2023, with a 67 per cent share of the market, and came second in action cameras behind GoPro, according to market research firm Frost & Sullivan. Overseas markets have made up the bulk of the company’s revenue in recent years. Last year, 76 per cent of its revenue came from outside mainland China, down from 81 per cent the previous year, according to its prospectus. The US and Europe each accounted for nearly a quarter of sales last year – 23.38 per cent and 23.36 per cent, respectively. However, the company faces headwinds in the US, where GoPro has sued Insta360 for patent infringement. The US International Trade Commission is also investigating the Chinese company. In its prospectus, Insta360 named GoPro, Japan’s Ricoh and local Shenzhen rival DJI as its main competitors. Insta360’s “core competency lies in product research and development”, Richter said. The company is developing a new “panoramic AI world model” built on popular open-source, commercial-use foundation artificial intelligence (AI) models, he added. The new AI model is designed to process 360-degree panoramic images with reduced pixel distortion and enhanced spatial awareness, according to Richter. Trade tensions between the US and China have added uncertainty to the company’s future success in the US. The two sides on Tuesday agreed “in principle to a framework” to be reviewed by the countries’ top leaders after two days of talks in London. Last month, both sides temporarily suspended tariffs for 90 days. The company warned in its prospectus that an unfavourable outcome in the trade war could force it to halt sales of some products, which would “adversely affect the company’s operating results”. “We are closely monitoring the evolving tariff situation to assess its potential impact”, it said. Insta360 reported a 40 per cent jump in first-quarter revenue to 1.4 billion yuan, while profit dipped 2.5 per cent to 176 million yuan.