Star unicorns in the field of artificial intelligence are accelerating their journey toward the capital market. According to recent reports from media outlets such as Reuters, DeepSeek has officially hired CITIC Securities to comprehensively prepare for the relevant matters of listing on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board in China, with the goal of formally submitting an IPO application this year and achieving a listing next year.
The funds raised through this IPO will mainly be invested in four core areas: further expanding the construction of computing power infrastructure, increasing investment in cutting-edge large models and chip self-research, and strengthening the incentive system for core R&D talents. With the rapid growth of its business, DeepSeek achieved about 475 million yuan in revenue in the first seven months of 2026, a figure that is approximately ten times the revenue of the entire year of 2025, demonstrating strong commercialization capabilities.
As the listing process advances, the company's financing landscape is also continuously expanding. Reuters reported that DeepSeek is currently advancing a new round of financing, with a target valuation of up to 500 billion yuan. Looking back at June this year, the company just completed a massive initial external funding round, with a total funding amount of 7.4 billion US dollars (approximately 49.789 billion yuan), and the post-funding valuation soared beyond 5 billion US dollars (approximately 336.413 billion yuan).
In this prestigious shareholder lineup, founder Liang Wenfeng personally invested about 20 billion yuan, firmly securing the position of the largest single investor; Tencent invested about 10 billion yuan, and companies under the CATL group invested about 5 billion yuan. In addition, well-known institutions and industrial capital such as JD.com, NetEase, IDG Capital, and the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund have also participated. Notably, this round of financing includes a five-year lock-up period, and external investors do not have voting rights. Nevertheless, the demand for subscription in the market remains extremely strong.
However, the high level of market enthusiasm has also triggered some off-market chaos. According to a report by the Financial Times, due to investors competing for shares, multiple special purpose vehicles (SPVs) have appeared in the secondary market. Some early investors who have already obtained shares have established SPVs to introduce external funds and engage in layered price increases for resale. Some investors have reported that the initial fees of some outer-layer entities can exceed 15%, and profit-sharing reaches as high as 40%, far exceeding industry standard levels.
DeepSeek itself has not participated in these complex off-market transfer operations. According to several informed sources, in order to prevent complex shareholder structures from bringing governance risks to the future listing on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board, founder Liang Wenfeng has begun to personally review the final list of investors, carefully verify the real identities of limited partners behind the investments, and resolutely avoid the company's equity falling into unknown entities.
