DeepSeek raises $7.4 billion in first external funding round at up to $59 billion valuation
10 Sources
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DeepSeek slated to draw $7 billion in maiden fundraising, sources say
June 3 (Reuters) - Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is set to raise about 50 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) in its first funding round from investors including Tencent Holdings (0700.HK), opens new tab and CATL (300750.SZ), opens new tab, people with knowledge of the matter said. The fundraising could
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DeepSeek slated to draw $7 billion in maiden fundraising, sources say
DeepSeek 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. The startup's founder, Liang Wenfeng, has committed 20 billion yuan of his own
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DeepSeek lines up its first outside money: a $7bn round at up to $59bn
Tencent and CATL are weighing the largest external cheques in a round that would formalise China's AI champion as a commercial company. DeepSeek has spent eighteen months as the most talked-about AI lab that almost nobody could invest in. That is about to change. The Chinese startup is slated to
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China's DeepSeek close to $7.4bn raise at $59bn valuation
Tencent, China's state-backed AI fund and DeepSeek's founder are expected to take part in the round. Chinese AI leader DeepSeek is close to finalising a $7.4bn funding round led by Tencent and Contemporary Amperex, with participation from the $8bn state-backed National Artificial Intelligence
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DeepSeek Eyes $7.4B Funding Round At Up To $59B Valuation - JD.com (NASDAQ:JD), NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES)
DeepSeek Eyes $7.4 Billion Funding Round At Up To $59 Billion Valuation As Tencent, CATL Back China's AI Champion: Report Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is reportedly preparing to raise about $7.4 billion in its first external funding round, a move that could value the company at as much as $59
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DeepSeek Nears Deal to Raise $7.4 Billion for Open-Source AI | PYMNTS.com
That's according to a report Wednesday (June 3) by Bloomberg News, which says the financing would mark one of China's largest ever startup funding rounds. Social media giant Tencent is among the investors in the round, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Also taking part, the same
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DeepSeek Eyes $7.4B Maiden Funding Round as Tencent and CATL Weigh Major Stakes
The planned funding round appears tied to that shift. More capital could support model development, computing resources, and the infrastructure needed to compete in agent-based AI. At the same time, DeepSeek faces limits that differ from those of US rivals. US export controls remain a key factor
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DeepSeek set for $7 bln fundraise with Tencent, CATL in the lead- Reuters By Investing.com
Investing.com-- DeepSeek is set to raise about 50 billion yuan ($7 billion) in its first ever funding round, with major Chinese technology firms including Tencent and CATL as the lead investors, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The fundraising could value the company between 350 billion and 400
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DeepSeek set to raise $7 billion in first funding round: sources
STORY: AI startup DeepSeek is expected to raise around $7.4 billion in its first funding round. That's according to sources, who said investors will include tech firm Tencent and battery giant CATL. They added the fundraising could value the Chinese company after the investment at between $52
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DeepSeek slated to raise $7 billion in maiden funding round, sources say
June 3 (Reuters) - DeepSeek, China's best-known AI startup, is set to raise about 50 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) in its first funding round from investors including Tencent Holdings and CATL, people with knowledge of the matter said. The fundraising could value the company after the investment at
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Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is closing its maiden fundraising of approximately $7.4 billion, with Tencent and CATL leading external investments. Founder Liang Wenfeng is committing $2.94 billion of his own capital to maintain control. The round values the company at between $52 billion and $59 billion, marking a shift from research lab to commercial entity as China builds AI self-sufficiency.
DeepSeek Secures Historic First External Funding Round
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is set to raise approximately 50 billion yuan, or $7.4 billion, in its first external funding round, according to sources familiar with the matter
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. The DeepSeek funding round could value the company at between 350 billion yuan and 400 billion yuan, translating to a post-investment valuation of $52 billion to $59 billion1
. This marks a significant milestone for the Chinese AI company that has operated with unusual independence since emerging from founder Liang Wenfeng's quantitative hedge fund, High-Flyer3
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Source: PYMNTS
The fundraising is expected to close within the next couple of weeks, though financial details could still change
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. DeepSeek became China's national AI champion and garnered global fame early last year when its V3 model and R1 model drew widespread praise in Silicon Valley and challenged U.S. assumptions about China's AI capabilities2
.Tencent and CATL Lead Strategic Investment Lineup
Liang Wenfeng has committed 20 billion yuan, approximately $2.94 billion, of his own money to the round, maintaining a controlling share that keeps him firmly in charge
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. Tech conglomerate Tencent is considering an investment of 10 billion yuan, around $1.5 billion, while battery giant CATL is looking at 5 billion yuan, roughly $735 million, which would make them the largest external investors1
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.DeepSeek is also in final talks with China's National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, gaming developer NetEase, and e-commerce giant JD.com
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. The planned number of investors is fewer than 10, with Hong Kong-headquartered IDG Capital and Monolith Capital also among prospective investors1
.China Builds AI Self-Sufficiency Through Strategic Partnerships
The investor lineup underscores China's efforts to build an increasingly self-sufficient AI industry, from models to the energy infrastructure needed to power them
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. CATL, best known as a dominant supplier in the electric vehicle battery supply chain, has recently pushed into AI data centers, exploring opportunities to provide power equipment and energy storage solutions as AI workloads drive demand for large-scale, reliable power2
.Domestic strategic money, rather than global venture capital that funds American labs, is doing the heavy lifting, partly by necessity given US export controls on advanced chips and geopolitical factors surrounding foreign investment in Chinese AI
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. Tencent has sought to promote its own AI model, Hunyuan, but trails domestic market leaders including ByteDance's Doubao and DeepSeek. A closer relationship with DeepSeek could help Tencent keep pace with rival Alibaba, which has prioritized its in-house Qwen AI model2
.Related Stories
Commercialization Efforts Signal Strategic Shift for DeepSeek
Taking outside capital fundamentally changes DeepSeek's character, formalizing it as a commercial entity with investors to answer to after operating more like a research project that happened to ship products
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. The reporting around this round makes clear that commercialization efforts are the agenda, with DeepSeek plotting revenue initiatives3
. A $7 billion war chest buys the compute, talent, and runway to build products rather than just publish papers3
.The company built its reputation on cheap, open models that were cost-effective to train yet strong on reasoning. The R1 model was trained using lower-capacity Nvidia chips, demonstrating efficiency that unsettled assumptions that frontier AI required frontier-sized budgets
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. The question this round raises is whether outside money changes that discipline, as investors expecting returns tend to push for the kind of spending and secrecy that DeepSeek has avoided3
.Challenge to US AI Dominance Intensifies with Funding
A valuation approaching $59 billion would still leave DeepSeek a fraction of the size of OpenAI or Anthropic on paper, both valued in the hundreds of billions
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. Anthropic recently filed to go public with reports estimating its valuation could soar above $1 trillion, after raising $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation in its last private round4
. OpenAI, recently valued at $852 billion, is also planning to go public4
.However, the comparison flatters American companies in dollar terms while understating what DeepSeek has achieved on a fraction of the spend. The company's whole reputation rests on doing more with less, representing a genuine challenge to US AI dominance through efficiency rather than scale
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. This round places DeepSeek leagues ahead of rival Moonshot, which raised $2 billion last month at a valuation of $20 billion4
. The startup has not made statements about whether it plans an initial public offering in the future1
.References
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