DeepSeek Launches New Funding Round at $71B Valuation, Plans IPO Filing This Year

According to reports from the Financial Times and Bloomberg on July 14, Chinese AI company DeepSeek has launched a new funding round with a pre-money valuation of approximately $71 billion, aiming to raise at least 10 billion yuan. Meanwhile, the company has begun preparations for a mainland China listing, with the earliest possible IPO filing by the end of 2026 and a target listing in 2027.

Funding and Valuation

• The new funding round has a pre-money valuation of $71 billion, a 37% increase from the $52 billion post-money valuation after the first round.
• The first round closed at the end of May 2026 and was officially announced on June 16, raising approximately 51 billion yuan, with a post-money valuation of $52 billion. Liang Wenfeng personally contributed 20 billion yuan, Tencent invested 10 billion yuan, CATL system invested 5 billion yuan, and NetEase, JD.com, Lisi Capital, and IDG Capital each invested about 3 billion yuan.
• All external investor funds are injected into a limited partnership managed by Liang Wenfeng, with a five-year lock-up period and no voting rights.

IPO Plans

• Bloomberg reports that DeepSeek has started preparations for a mainland China listing, with the earliest possible IPO filing by the end of 2026 and a target listing in 2027. The company is in talks with accounting and banking advisors.
• Specific timelines and fundraising plans may be adjusted based on market conditions and company performance.

Founder's Wealth

• According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Liang Wenfeng has a net worth of $36 billion, ranking 63rd globally and 8th in China, with a year-to-date increase of $19.3 billion.
• If the new funding round is completed, his stake value is expected to reach $50-60 billion, potentially making him the third richest person in China, behind Zhang Yiming and Zhong Shanshan.
• Among global AI model founders, Liang Wenfeng has the highest net worth, far exceeding OpenAI's Greg Brockman ($25.5 billion) and Anthropic's Dario Amodei ($8 billion).

Use of Funds and Strategic Layout

• The funds will primarily be used to build proprietary data centers, procure AI chips, and develop next-generation AI systems such as agents.
• DeepSeek has recruited IDC design and planning engineers and plans to build a GW-level data center using liquid cooling technology, located in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia.
• Reuters reports that DeepSeek is developing its own AI inference chip, a project that started about a year ago, and has been in contact with chip design, wafer foundry, and memory companies.

Industry Impact

• DeepSeek's valuation is about 1/12 of OpenAI ($852 billion) and 1/13 of Anthropic ($965 billion).
• The company is transitioning from a software company to a vertically integrated infrastructure provider, differing from OpenAI and Anthropic, which rent cloud services.