- Founder commits major personal capital as external investors line up
- CATL and Tencent among largest backers in late-stage talks
DeepSeek is close to completing its first external fundraising round, with a total raise of about 50 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) and a post-money valuation of 350-400 billion yuan, Reuters reported on June 3, citing people familiar with the matter.
Founder and chief executive Liang Wenfeng has pledged 20 billion yuan of personal capital, accounting for roughly 40% of the round, the report said.
Among external investors, Tencent is considering an investment of about 10 billion yuan, while battery giant CATL plans to contribute 5 billion yuan, positioning them among the largest backers in the deal.
E-commerce group JD.com, internet company NetEase, and China’s state-backed China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, or the “Big Fund,” are also in late-stage discussions, with the final investor pool expected to be fewer than 10 participants.
If completed, the financing would be the largest in China’s AI sector to date, underscoring intensifying capital competition in large language model development.
Concern about interference
Liang had previously resisted external fundraising, concerned about interference from new shareholders, but escalating compute requirements in the AI race have made continued self-funding increasingly difficult, according to the report.
His substantial personal investment is seen as a way to maintain control over the company’s direction even as outside capital enters. Beyond DeepSeek, High-Flyer, the quantitative trading firm he founded and heads, remains his primary source of wealth.
For CATL, the investment reflects a broader push into “power-compute synergy” infrastructure. Over the past two months, the company has acquired stakes in high-voltage direct current (HVDC) specialist Hangzhou Zhongheng Electric Co.,Ltd. and data center operator VNET, extending its reach from power equipment into data center operations.
Analysts say CATL is gradually repositioning itself from a battery supplier into an AI infrastructure energy player, with the DeepSeek investment potentially completing a vertically integrated strategy linking power supply and compute demand.
People familiar with the matter said the round could close in the coming weeks, though details may still change. DeepSeek has not commented on any potential IPO plans.
