- Registered capital rises to 15 million yuan ($2.19 million)
- Alibaba, tencent reportedly weigh investment at $20 billion valuation
DeepSeek has raised its registered capital and reshuffled ownership, with founder Liang Wenfeng significantly increasing his direct stake as the company draws investor interest.
According to Tianyancha, a business registry information provider, the Hangzhou-based AI upstart on April 27 lifted its registered capital to 15 million yuan ($2.19 million) from 10 million yuan.
Founder Liang Wenfeng, who also heads the quantum trading company High-Flyer Quant, increased his subscribed capital contribution from 100,000 yuan to 5.1 million yuan, raising his direct shareholding to 34% from 1%.
Beyond his direct holding, Liang also retains indirect ownership through limited-partnership entities including Ningbo Cheng’en Enterprise Management Consulting.
On a look-through basis, he controls about 84.29% of DeepSeek, maintaining effective control of the company. Meanwhile, the Ningbo-based entity saw its stake diluted to 66% from 99% as part of the ownership change.
These overhauls come as market speculation intensifies over potential external funding for DeepSeek, which so far has relied on its own funds to run the AI chatbot service.
Multiple media reports over the past week suggest Alibaba Group and Tencent are in talks to invest in DeepSeek at a valuation of around $20 billion.
