According to foreign media reports, the AI large model unicorn DeepSeek recently completed its first round of financing exceeding $7 billion (approximately 50 billion RMB) through an unconventional transaction structure, with the post-investment valuation jumping past the $50 billion mark.
This round of financing introduced a significant innovation: instead of directly injecting funds into DeepSeek itself, all investor capital was channeled into a limited partnership firm managed personally by the company's CEO, Liang Wenfeng. Through this unique legal and governance structure, investors obtain corresponding economic rights while being subject to a five-year lock-up period and not enjoying any voting rights. This approach maximizes the absolute control of the founding team over the company and the autonomy of technical decision-making.
It is reported that founder Liang Wenfeng personally invested 20 billion RMB in this round of financing, demonstrating a strong confidence in the company's long-term development. Among the strategic investors, Tencent is considering investing 10 billion RMB, while CATL plans to invest 5 billion RMB. These two giants will become the largest external investors in this round of financing.
Amidst the intensifying global competition in AI large models and the huge consumption of computing power and capital, DeepSeek, with this substantial funding injection, not only broke the recent silence in the primary market but also secured a substantial financial reserve for future cutting-edge model development and computing infrastructure construction. This unconventional financing structure, characterized by high founder control and deep industry alliances, offers a new industry paradigm for open-source and native AI companies to balance capital introduction with governance independence in the competitive landscape.
