China's DeepSeek closes record $7 billion-plus funding with unusual deal structure: Report

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has raised more than 50 billion yuan ($7.40 billion) at a valuation exceeding $50 billion in its first funding round, using a structure designed to preserve founder ‌control, the ⁠Information reported ⁠on Tuesday.

The funding required investors to put their ​capital into a limited partnership managed by DeepSeek CEO Liang Wenfeng ​rather than into DeepSeek itself, the report said.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. DeepSeek could not ​immediately be reached for ⁠comment.


Investors are ‌subject to a five-year lock-up and ​will ​not have voting rights, the report said.

China's ⁠National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund is the only exception, having invested directly in DeepSeek and retaining both voting rights and freedom from the lock-up, the Information added.

Reuters reported earlier this month that founder Liang had committed 20 billion yuan of his own money in ‌this funding round, adding that tech conglomerate Tencent is considering 10 billion yuan and battery giant CATL is looking at ⁠5 billion yuan, which would make them the largest external investors.

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.