Key facts
- DeepSeek plans to raise approximately $7.4 billion (50 billion yuan) in its first funding round.
- Founder Liang Wenfeng committed 20 billion yuan of his personal funds.
- Tencent Holdings is considering a 10 billion yuan investment, and CATL is looking at 5 billion yuan.
- The post-investment valuation is expected to be between $52 billion and $59 billion (350-400 billion yuan).
- Other potential investors include China's national AI fund, NetEase, JD.com, IDG Capital, and Monolith Capital.
- The fundraising round is anticipated to be completed within the next few weeks.
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is reportedly planning to raise approximately 50 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) in its inaugural funding round. Sources indicate that Tencent Holdings and CATL are among the potential investors, with Tencent considering a 10 billion yuan investment and CATL looking at 5 billion yuan, making them the largest external investors. Founder Liang Wenfeng has committed 20 billion yuan of his own money. The post-investment valuation is expected to range from 350 billion to 400 billion yuan ($52 billion to $59 billion). Other potential investors include China's national AI fund, gaming developer NetEase, e-commerce giant JD.com, IDG Capital, and Monolith Capital. DeepSeek gained global recognition early last year for its V3 and R1 models, challenging US AI capabilities. The fundraising underscores China's efforts to build a self-sufficient AI industry. CATL is exploring opportunities in AI data centers, while Tencent aims to bolster its AI model, Hunyuan, to compete with rivals. The round is expected to be completed within the next few weeks, though financial details could still change. The company faces geopolitical constraints that limit access to frontier American silicon, impacting its ability to match the computing budgets of U.S. rivals.