Investors in DeepSeek's approximately RMB 100 billion second round of financing revealed: Meituan, Geely, NetEase and others on the list
Investors in DeepSeek's approximately RMB 100 billion second round of financing include GigaDevice, Meituan, Geely, Midea and existing shareholder NetEase, with more than 15 investors in total; CATL and Tencent are the largest investors. This round sets the record for the largest financing in China's AI industry, with DeepSeek valued at approximately USD 74 billion before the financing. DeepSeek has engaged CITIC Securities as its listing advisor, targeting a listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in early next year.
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Smart Things reported on October 23 that last night, according to Reuters citing four people familiar with the matter, the investors in DeepSeek's approximately 100 billion yuan second round of financing include GigaDevice, Meituan, Geely, Midea, and existing shareholder NetEase.
Three of the people said that other investors also include Boyu Capital, CPE, Legend Capital, and existing shareholder IDG Capital. One person familiar with the matter disclosed that the total number of investors in this round exceeds 15.
Yesterday morning, according to Bloomberg, DeepSeek has raised approximately 100 billion yuan (equivalent to 15 billion US dollars) in its latest round of financing, setting the record for the largest financing in China's AI industry, with CATL and Tencent among the largest investors in this round.
Yesterday, a report by The Wall Street Journal also disclosed some of the investors. People familiar with the matter said that the new investors in DeepSeek's current round include semiconductor-focused Shixi Capital, Legend Capital backed by Legend Holdings, and Geely.
In addition to the above investors, according to The Wall Street Journal, existing shareholders such as Monolith Management and Shixiang Technology also increased their investment in DeepSeek. Before the completion of the latest financing round, DeepSeek's valuation was approximately 74 billion US dollars (about 493.6 billion yuan).
Some people familiar with the matter said that negotiations for DeepSeek's current financing round lasted from July this year to October, longer than recent financings by other AI companies, with new investors joining continuously during the period.
While raising funds in the primary market, DeepSeek has also reached into the secondary market. According to a previous Reuters report, DeepSeek has hired CITIC Securities as its listing advisor to accelerate its IPO, with the goal of listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange early next year. If all goes smoothly, DeepSeek may go public earlier than OpenAI and Moonshot AI.
On the commercialization side, according to The Wall Street Journal, DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng told investors in September this year that DeepSeek's annualized revenue run rate based on its current revenue level has reached 1 billion US dollars (about 6.67 billion yuan).
Source: The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg