DeepSeek eyes $1.5B fundraising round at $71B valuation just a month after closing first round

DeepSeek reportedly in talks to raise $1.5B, then IPO

DeepSeek, the Chinese large language model developer, is preparing for a 2027 IPO debut, but it could come as early as the end of this year as it also looks to raise around $1.5 billion in new funds at about a $71 billion valuation, Bloomberg reports. The news comes after the company raised $7 billion in funds just a month ago at around a $50 billion valuation in its first-ever outside funding round. The China-based startup, founded in 2023, made headlines early last year after releasing AI technology that was both more efficient and more cost-effective than U.S. model makers. It has since grown exponentially in popularity. In June, it accounted for nearly 23% of all the tens of trillions of tokens processed by enterprise-focused AI gateway Vercel, the company reports. This is compared to Anthropic taking 32% of tokens. DeepSeek continues to show how Chinese open-source models perform within a few breaths of top U.S. AI Labs, despite U.S. export controls on chips. DeepSeek's cloud service runs on chips made by the Chinese company Huawei Technologies. Investors in DeepSeek include Tencent and Beijing's National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, per Bloomberg.

DeepSeek weighs new fundraising a month after closing first round

Unusually swift pace of capital injection comes as Chinese AI start-up seeks to build out infrastructure DeepSeek is considering raising new funds just one month after closing its first round, as China's leading AI lab seeks to accelerate expansion of its infrastructure. The Hangzhou-based start-up completed its first-ever round of financing around the end of May, which raised about $7bn at a valuation of $52bn, including the raised funds, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. DeepSeek this week started preliminary talks with new investors about opening another round that would value the company at about $71bn before the deal, two of the people said. That would represent a 37 per cent jump in valuation, although details of the new round are yet to be finalised. DeepSeek's unusually swift pace of fundraising stems from expectations of increased capital expenditure to build its own data centre and purchase more AI chips, according to the people. Its push into building AI agents, which can perform tasks autonomously, is leading to much higher demand for computing power. Founder Liang Wenfeng put about $3bn of his own money into the AI lab in the previous round as the largest investor, the people said. Other investors included battery maker CATL, tech groups Tencent, JD.com and NetEase, and venture capital funds including IDG, Monolith and Shixiang. The state-backed national AI fund, a subsidiary of China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, the country's strategic semiconductor investor, also became a minority shareholder of DeepSeek. The proceeds from the first round are being used to beef up DeepSeek's infrastructure and hire more AI researchers, as competition to build the best models intensifies in China and beyond. DeepSeek plans to double the size of many of its core teams, joining a fierce talent war as it seeks to commercialise its frontier research. The company said last month it had launched a recruitment drive to "expand every department". DeepSeek emerged as a leader in China's AI research last year after the release of its open-source R1 reasoning model, which demonstrated performance comparable to leading western systems but was trained using more efficient methods. Competition among Chinese AI groups has increased in recent months, with rivals including Zhipu AI and Moonshot AI releasing improved open-source models that have been rapidly adopted by developers. The Chinese labs are also seeking to catch up with global leaders such as Anthropic and OpenAI, which have far more resources in terms of computing power and capital. DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China's DeepSeek considers new fundraising after first round, FT reports

July 14 (Reuters) - Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is weighing raising new funds one month after closing its first round, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. The company started preliminary talks this week with new investors about opening another round that would value the company at about $71 billion before the deal, ⁠according to the report. DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a request for comment. DeepSeek, China's best-known AI startup, completed its first-ever round of financing around the end of May, which raised about $7 billion at a valuation of $52 billion, including the raised funds, the FT added. The startup ⁠became China's national AI champion and garnered global fame early last year, when its V3 and R1 models drew widespread praise in Silicon Valley ⁠and challenged U.S. assumptions about China's AI capabilities. Reuters earlier this month reported DeepSeek is developing its own AI ⁠chip, a push that could reduce its reliance on Nvidia and Huawei chips, ⁠which it has depended on to train and run its globally popular models. Reporting by Hyunsu Yim in Barcelona; Editing by Sharon Singleton Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

China's DeepSeek considers new fundraising after first round

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is considering another funding round. This comes just one month after closing its initial financing. The company seeks a valuation of approximately seventy-one billion dollars. DeepSeek recently raised seven billion dollars at a fifty-two billion dollar valuation. The startup is also developing its own AI chip. Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is weighing raising new funds one month after closing its first round, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. The company started preliminary talks this week with new ⁠investors ⁠about opening another round that would value the company at about $71 billion before the deal, according to the report. DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a request for comment. DeepSeek, China's best-known AI startup, ⁠completed its first-ever round of financing around the end of May, which ⁠raised about $7 billion at a valuation of $52 billion, including the raised funds, the FT added. The startup became China's national AI champion and garnered global fame early last year, when its V3 and R1 models drew widespread praise in Silicon Valley and challenged U.S. assumptions about China's AI capabilities. Reuters earlier this ⁠month reported DeepSeek is developing its own AI chip, a push that could reduce its reliance on Nvidia and Huawei chips, which it has depended on to train and run its globally popular models.

DeepSeek Considers New Funding Round After Raising $7 billion | PYMNTS.com

The Chinese artificial intelligence company wrapped its first-ever round of funding near the end of May, raising $7 billion at a $52 billion valuation, the Financial Times (FT) reported Tuesday (July 14), citing three sources with knowledge of the matter. DeepSeek this week began preliminary discussions with new investors about another funding round that would value the company at roughly $71 billion before the deal, two of the sources said. That figure would be a 37% increase in valuation, the report added, though details of the round have not yet been ironed out. The sources added that DeepSeek's unusually fast funding schedule is related to expectations of increased capital needed to construct its own data center and acquire more AI chips. The company's efforts to develop AI agents is driving significantly greater demand for computing power, the report added. According to the FT's sources, DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng was the largest investor in the last round, putting around $3 billion of his own money into the company. The report added that proceeds from the initial funding are being used to strengthen DeepSeek's infrastructure and hire more AI researchers, amid greater competition in China and elsewhere to build the best models. As the FT notes, DeepSeek emerged as a leader in AI research in China last year when it debuted its open-source R1 reasoning model, which performed at the same level as leading western systems but had been trained on more efficient methods. In other AI news, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis on Tuesday proposed the creation of a U.S.-led standards body to independently test advanced artificial intelligence models for national security threats before release. Artificial general intelligence that can match the human brain across a broad range of tasks is "probably only a few short years away," leaving society a "precious window" to establish oversight, Hassabis said, according to a Financial Times report. "The framework could give AI companies a common testing process while avoiding a separate licensing regime for every model. Independent testers could compare models against common thresholds and update tests as new capabilities emerge," PYMNTS wrote. "The White House has already moved toward pre-release oversight. A June executive order sought voluntary access to covered frontier models for up to 30 days before release to test advanced cyber capabilities. Google DeepMind, Microsoft and xAI previously agreed to provide models for federal national security testing."

DeepSeek Eyes New Funding Weeks After $7 Billion AI Funding Round

Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek is already exploring another funding round, barely a month after completing its first-ever external fundraising. The move underlines the soaring capital demands of the global AI race, where companies are spending aggressively on computing infrastructure and custom chips to stay ahead. According to a , DeepSeek has begun preliminary discussions with potential investors for a new funding round that could value the company at about $71 billion before the investment. If completed, the proposed valuation would mark a sharp rise from the roughly $52 billion post-money valuation it secured after raising nearly $7 billion in late May. The fresh capital is expected to support expansion plans, particularly the construction of proprietary data centers and the purchase of additional AI processors needed to power next-generation models and AI agents.

DeepSeek explores $71 billion funding round, prepares China IPO: Bloomberg By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek is preparing to file for an initial public offering in mainland China as soon as this year, while also seeking fresh private funding at a valuation of at least 480 billion yuan ($71 billion), Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Track the AI race with InvestingPro's analyst insights and market-moving news The Hangzhou-based company has begun planning for a mainland listing and is targeting an IPO filing later this year that could pave the way for a market debut in 2027, according to Bloomberg. The company has also started discussions with accounting and banking advisers as it advances the listing process. Bloomberg said DeepSeek is simultaneously in talks with prospective investors for a new private fundraising round, only weeks after completing a record $7 billion first external financing. The new round would target a pre-money valuation of at least 480 billion yuan, up from roughly $50 billion in its previous funding round. The company is reportedly seeking to raise at least 10 billion yuan, although the final amount could increase depending on investor demand. Bloomberg cautioned that discussions remain ongoing and the timing of both the fundraising and IPO could still change. DeepSeek is working with accounting firms to complete its financial statements by the end of December, a prerequisite for an IPO filing, Bloomberg reported. The company could submit listing documents near the end of 2026 or in early 2027, depending on when the financials are finalized. The latest fundraising discussions were first reported by the Financial Times, while Bloomberg separately reported the company's IPO preparations.