Key facts
- Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is planning a new fundraising round at a valuation of approximately 500 billion yuan ($74 billion).
- This follows a recent fundraising round in June where the company raised about $7.4 billion at a valuation of 450 billion yuan.
- DeepSeek is considering an initial public offering on Shanghai's STAR Market.
- The company aims to complete an IPO filing this year.
- DeepSeek is looking to raise up to 50 billion yuan in the new funding round.
- The company is also reportedly developing its own AI inference chip.
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is reportedly preparing for a new fundraising round at a valuation of approximately 500 billion yuan ($74 billion), ahead of a potential initial public offering on Shanghai's STAR Market. This comes just weeks after the company raised about $7.4 billion in June at a post-money valuation of 450 billion yuan, though investor filings suggested a lower valuation of 350.88 billion yuan ($52 billion).
The company is looking to raise as much as 50 billion yuan in this latest round, signaling strong investor appetite but also highlighting the escalating costs of competing in the AI sector, which demands significant investment in computing power, data centers, and engineering talent.
DeepSeek has set an internal target to complete its IPO filing this year. The company has drawn global attention for its AI models, which have been noted for their lower training and operating costs compared to leading U.S. systems. Following its June funding, DeepSeek announced plans to double its staff, including in areas like AI agents and potentially its own AI inference chip development.
Historically, DeepSeek was largely self-funded by its founder, Liang Wenfeng, through his quantitative hedge fund. However, the increasing costs of staying at the forefront of AI development have necessitated a shift towards external financing. The company faces stiff competition from domestic tech giants like ByteDance and Alibaba, as well as other well-funded AI startups.
In the June funding round, Tencent Holdings and battery giant CATL became significant external shareholders, alongside China's national AI fund, NetEase, and JD.com, underscoring DeepSeek's strategic importance to Beijing's goals of fostering domestic AI capabilities and reducing reliance on foreign technology.