China’s DeepSeek closes over 50 billion yuan funding with unusual deal structure: The Information

[BEIJING] Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek has raised more than 50 billion yuan (S$9.5 billion) at a valuation exceeding US$50 billion in its first funding round, using a structure designed to preserve founder control, tech news publication The Information reported on Tuesday (Jun 16).

The funding required investors to put their capital into a limited partnership managed by DeepSeek CEO Liang Wenfeng rather than into DeepSeek itself, it 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 Liang had committed 20 billion yuan of his own money in this funding round.

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Tech conglomerate Tencent is also considering 10 billion yuan and battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology is looking at five 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 US assumptions about China’s AI capabilities. REUTERS