The Zhitong Finance App learned that, according to media reports quoting people familiar with the matter, DeepSeek, a leading domestic AI model company, is promoting a new round of financing and plans to raise 7.4 billion US dollars for R&D work and expansion of its computing power infrastructure. The valuation of the company in this round of financing is expected to reach 74 billion US dollars, higher than the valuation of more than 50 billion US dollars in June this year.
The report pointed out that DeepSeek aims to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) next year, and this financing will not only enrich its capital reserves. Existing shareholders are expected to continue to invest, including investment institutions Monolith Management (Monolith Management) and Shixiang (Shixiang), as well as Chinese battery giant Ningde Era, and several other funds supported by local government financing platforms are also planning to participate.
People familiar with the matter revealed that in the last round of financing, DeepSeek asked most investors to invest in a limited partnership managed by founder Liang Wenfeng; however, in the latest round, the company will allow more direct investment.
DeepSeek completed the first round of financing in June of this year. The total amount of financing reached 51 billion yuan, and the post-investment valuation was nearly 400 billion yuan, setting a record for the highest single round of financing in the domestic AI industry. According to public information, the round of financing was led by founder Liang Wenfeng. Industries such as Tencent, Ningde Era, NetEase, JD, and IDG Capital and top financial capital participated in the joint investment, and the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund followed the strategy of the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund.
People familiar with the matter also pointed out that DeepSeek's annual recurring revenue (ARR) has reached about 500 million US dollars, but the company is still in the money-burning expansion stage and continues to invest in model training, chips, data centers, and talents. The company has yet to disclose actual losses or cash consumption, but the amount of capital raised this time is equivalent to about 14.8 times its annual recurring revenue, indicating that the capital required to maintain competition for cutting-edge AI models is far higher than current revenue.