DeepSeek Completes Over $7.4 Billion in First Round Financing, Valuation Exceeds $50 Billion with Founder Retaining Absolute Control
06/16 06:45
According to Beating monitoring, Chinese AI lab DeepSeek has completed its first round of financing exceeding 50 billion yuan (approximately $7.4 billion), with a valuation surpassing $50 billion. This financing adopted an unconventional transaction structure, where external investors do not directly invest in DeepSeek but instead contribute to a limited partnership managed by CEO Liang Wenfeng, ensuring the founder retains absolute control over the company. All investors, except for a national-level fund, face a five-year lock-up period during which they cannot transfer or sell their shares. In terms of funding sources, founder Liang Wenfeng personally contributed 20 billion yuan, Tencent invested 10 billion yuan, CATL invested 5 billion yuan, and JD.com, NetEase, and IDG Capital each invested 3 billion yuan. The only exception is the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, which directly invested 1 billion yuan in DeepSeek, holding voting rights and not subject to the five-year lock-up period. Other external investors do not have voting rights and can only access specific financial information and enjoy priority subscription rights for subsequent financing. This new round of financing marks a significant shift in DeepSeek's operational model. Since its establishment in 2023, DeepSeek, as part of the Huanfang Quantitative AI team, has relied on its own funds for operations and maintained research independence due to a lack of commercialization pressure. However, under pressure for funding and talent retention, Liang Wenfeng and the team initiated financing in April and conducted strict due diligence on the identities of the limited partners behind the investors to prevent equity from falling into the hands of unknown investors.
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