DeepSeek nears pre-IPO funding round as 2027 market debut takes shape: sources

DeepSeek is set to finalize a new funding round valued at approximately 500 billion yuan (US$74 billion) before investment, as the Chinese AI startup moves closer to potentially listing on Shanghai's Star Market, according to sources familiar with the matter. The company aimed to raise about 50 billion yuan in the funding round, which was expected to conclude before the end of August, a source said.

Notable investors include Monolith and Shixiang Capital, both local venture funds, and Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL), a prominent Chinese battery manufacturer, one source added. New investors in talks include CPE, Legend Capital, and Stony Creek Capital, a semiconductor-focused private equity firm linked to Zhu Yiming, chairman of ChangXin Memory Technologies and founder of GigaDevice, the source revealed.

Sources requested anonymity due to discussing confidential information. Concurrently, DeepSeek is preparing for a potential IPO on Shanghai's Star Market, with the company potentially filing as early as the end of the year for a 2027 public market debut, two sources reported. Other major players in China's AI sector, such as Zhipu AI, Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings, and Baidu, have also increased their prices for AI services, indicating a move towards monetizing AI amid escalating computing and infrastructure costs.

DeepSeek is expanding its teams and computing infrastructure, planning to increase its capacity by approximately 1 gigawatt.