China’s DeepSeek to raise fresh capital at $74bn valuation ahead of onshore IPO

DeepSeek, the Hangzhou-based artificial intelligence startup, is preparing a new fundraising round that would value the company at roughly 500 billion yuan (about $74 billion) as it eyes a potential onshore initial public offering on Shanghai’s STAR Market, people briefed on the matter said. The company is reportedly seeking up to 50 billion yuan in the fresh round after completing a large June financing; filings by two Chinese investors later suggested a lower valuation of about 350.88 billion yuan.

"The information is not public," one of the people involved said, reflecting the early stage of deliberations and the fact that terms and timetables remain subject to change.

DeepSeek staged a headline-grabbing June financing in which it raised approximately $7.4 billion at a post-money valuation of about 450 billion yuan, according to the people. In that round founder Liang Wenfeng personally committed 20 billion yuan, while Tencent Holdings and battery maker CATL invested 10 billion yuan and 5 billion yuan respectively to become the company’s largest external shareholders. Other reported backers include China’s national AI fund, NetEase, JD.com, IDG Capital, Loyal Valley Capital, Monolith Management and Shixiang Capital.

The reported push for fresh capital highlights intensifying costs at the frontier of AI development. DeepSeek attracted global attention in 2025 for launching low-cost models that appeared to compete with leading U.S. systems while keeping training and operating expenses relatively low. But executives have signalled expansion plans that will require heavy capital expenditure: the company said it planned to double staff across functions, including data centres and teams focused on AI agents, and has reportedly been discreetly hiring chip-design engineers as it explores development of its own AI inference chip.

Competition at home has also stiffened, with established technology groups and deep-pocketed startups pushing into the same advanced-model segments. The company has faced rivals including ByteDance and Alibaba as well as startups such as Z.ai, Moonshot and MiniMax, amplifying the need for additional compute, data-centre capacity and specialised engineering hires.

• Planned valuation for fresh round: ~500 billion yuan (~$74 billion)
• Amount reportedly sought: up to 50 billion yuan
• June financing: roughly $7.4 billion at ~450 billion yuan post-money
• Filings suggesting alternative valuation: 350.88 billion yuan (~$52 billion)
• Major known commitments in June round: Liang Wenfeng 20 billion yuan; Tencent 10 billion yuan; CATL 5 billion yuan

DeepSeek has started early discussions about a potential IPO filing on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style STAR Market and set an internal target to complete an IPO filing this year, multiple people familiar with the plans said, though they stressed the timeline could change. Company representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

For investors and the broader Chinese AI ecosystem, the proposed fundraiser underscores two competing dynamics: sustained investor appetite for high-potential AI firms and the sharply rising capital intensity of pursuing top-tier model performance and infrastructure independence. How DeepSeek balances capital raises, shareholder dilution and rapid technological investment will help determine whether it can maintain its early cost advantage while scaling for broader commercial deployment and a mainland public listing.