DeepSeek plans to raise approximately 50 billion yuan in its first round of financing from investors such as Tencent Holdings and CATL. After the completion of this round of financing, DeepSeek’s post-investment valuation range is between 350 billion and 400 billion yuan.
According to people familiar with the matter, in this round of financing, DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng will independently invest 20 billion yuan, Tencent plans to invest 10 billion yuan, and CATL plans to invest 5 billion yuan. These two companies will become the largest external investors in this financing. In addition, DeepSeek is also in investment negotiations with the China National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, NetEase, JD.com, etc.
The luxurious lineup of investors highlights the market’s high regard for DeepSeek. Prior to this, the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund was also revealed to be negotiating with DeepSeek to lead its first round of external financing.
As of press time, DeepSeek has not publicly responded or stated its position on the financing.