DeepSeek Completes First-Round Financing, Valued Highest Among China's AI Startups

(CNA, Taipei, 17th) According to a report by the U.S. Wall Street Journal, Chinese AI company DeepSeek has raised over $6.7 billion (approximately NT$233.6 billion) in its first funding round to support its capital-intensive artificial intelligence (AI) development. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that investors have valued the company at over $50 billion, making it the highest-valued AI startup in China.

Sources indicated that founder Liang Wenfeng held nearly 90% of DeepSeek’s shares prior to this round and personally invested around $3 billion, becoming the largest single contributor.

Several insiders revealed that Liang has retained control of the company through an unusual arrangement. Although major external investors have injected substantial capital, they are structurally excluded from DeepSeek’s limited partnership framework, resulting in a 'money without power' situation. They also face a rare five-year lock-up period and strict identity verification.

According to sources, except for the 'China National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund,' all external investors must channel their funds into a limited partnership managed by Liang Wenfeng, rather than directly into DeepSeek. Under this special structure, external investors enjoy priority access to financial information and preemptive rights in future funding rounds, but hold no voting rights in DeepSeek.

Additionally, this funding round includes restrictive clauses: first, a five-year lock-up period on all investors’ equity, during which shares cannot be transferred; second, rigorous verification of the true identities of the limited partners behind the investing funds to prevent equity from flowing into unknown entities.

Sources said the 'China National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund,' established in early 2025 with official backing, directly invested approximately $150 million into DeepSeek. Other major investors include Chinese tech giant Tencent, which invested around $1.5 billion, and battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), which contributed $740 million.

Additional participants include Chinese e-commerce company JD.com and game developer NetEase, along with investment firms IDG Capital and Beijing-based Monolith Management.

Since gaining attention over a year ago with a powerful, low-cost AI model that impressed Silicon Valley and Wall Street, DeepSeek, the Hangzhou-based AI lab, has been regarded as one of Beijing’s leading contenders in the U.S.-China AI race.

Currently, domestic Chinese AI startups struggle to match the fundraising capabilities of their U.S. counterparts. Even after this massive injection, DeepSeek’s valuation remains only a fraction of the astronomical valuations of leading U.S. labs such as OpenAI and Anthropic. (Edited by Zhu Jianling / Qiu Guoqiang) 1150617