China’s DeepSeek Restarts Paused Second Fundraiser at Pre-Money Valuation of USD74.1 Billion, Report Says(Yicai) Aug. 5 -- DeepSeek, one of China's standout artificial intelligence startups, has resumed its second funding round about a month after suspending it, with the aim of raising CNY50 billion (USD7.4 billion) at a pre-investment valuation of around CNY500 billion (USD74.1 billion), according to a media report.
DeepSeek will sign the investment agreements late this month, Chinese business magazine Caijing reported yesterday, citing sources familiar with the matter. The Hangzhou-based company and its investors hope the fundraiser can now proceed in a low-key manner, with some institutions yet to receive notification, they added.
According to a number of investors, the fundraiser was initiated in the middle of July before being suspended later in the month when some investors on the negotiation waiting list were informed that plans to sign financing deals had been put on hold.
The list includes candidates that were not selected in DeepSeek's first funding round, but also venture capital and industry investors that did take part before, the sources pointed out.
DeepSeek bagged CNY50 billion from its first fundraiser in June, the most by a Chinese AI model developer, bringing its valuation to over CNY350 billion. Participants included the National AI Industry Investment Fund, Tencent Holdings, Contemporary Amperex Technology and the battery giant's offshore investment and strategic fund management arm, NetEase, JD.Com, Monolith Management, IDG Capital, Loyal Valley Capital, and Shixiang Capital.
Investors intended to contribute more than CNY100 billion to DeepSeek's first funding round, showing that a large amount of capital remains interested in gaining exposure to the firm, one investor told Caijing.
If this round is successfully completed, DeepSeek’s total fundraising across the two rounds will exceed CNY100 billion (USD14.8 billion), much more than its Chinese peers. Moonshot AI recently secured USD3.5 billion in an F funding round that lifted its valuation to USD35 billion, Securities Times reported.
Editor: Martin Kadiev
