Listed Chinese firms back DeepSeek's record round, mostly through funds
Several mainland-listed companies have reportedly put money into DeepSeek's second outside round, a record for Chinese AI, mostly through two special-purpose funds.
The short version
- Reported size: about a hundred billion yuan, roughly fifteen billion US dollars, a record for Chinese AI.
- The target was raised from eighty billion yuan during the process.
- Existing backers Tencent and CATL took part, alongside several new industry-linked investors.
- Perfect World, Century Huatong and Litong Electronics joined through two special funds.
- Investors had to state in writing what data and business support they could give DeepSeek.
Why it matters
DeepSeek releases open-weight models that many builders use or compare against. Where its money comes from may shape how it prices its services and how open it stays. Today's reporting does not say which way that goes.
What was reported
As Eastmoney reported, citing Securities Times, several companies listed on mainland China's stock exchanges (known as A-shares) are part of DeepSeek's new funding round. Reporters said multiple investors in the private market confirmed the news.
The round is said to be about a hundred billion yuan, or roughly fifteen billion US dollars. That would be the largest single raise in Chinese AI. The target had earlier been eighty billion yuan before it was raised.
Who is in
Tencent and CATL, the battery maker, are existing investors and joined as major backers. IDG Capital, Lisi Capital and Shixiang Capital continued to invest.
Most new names are industry-linked investors. They include Legend Capital, Stone Capital, a Geely-backed fund, SMIC's investment arm and later Hengdian Capital, which reportedly got a large share.
An unusual entry fee
One investor told the reporters that DeepSeek asked every interested party to explain in writing what data and business help it could provide. The reasoning was that training data and computing power, not secret designs, are the real barriers in large models.
So the investors with the most useful industry resources reportedly received bigger allocations.
Listed firms enter by the side door
Perfect World, Century Huatong and Litong Electronics, a computing-power services firm, invested through two special funds rather than owning DeepSeek shares directly. The two funds raised a little over eleven billion yuan from outside investors combined.
Perfect World committed a hundred and fifty million yuan across the two funds. Century Huatong's subsidiary put in six hundred and fifty million yuan, and Litong disclosed ninety-five million yuan in late October.
What is still unclear
This is DeepSeek's second outside round. The first came in June, at about fifty-one billion yuan and a valuation near five hundred billion yuan. The article gives no valuation for this round, and we have not seen a DeepSeek statement.
What to watch
- Further stock-exchange filings from listed companies that show who invested and how much.
- Any change to DeepSeek's license terms or API pricing.
- Whether DeepSeek confirms the round size and valuation.
Try it
If you build on DeepSeek's hosted service, check its pricing and license pages today and note the current terms, so you can spot any later change.
Sources and links
- ReportingEastmoney: the article we sourced
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Listen to the daily showsFirst reported by Eastmoney · Read the original. Written by the SI Agent News Desk from the reporting above.Written with AI from the source above. Every number is checked against the source. Spot a mistake? Corrections.