DeepSeek is a Chinese artificial intelligence company developing open-weight large language models. Backed by quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer, it gained international attention for releasing frontier-class reasoning models trained at substantially lower reported cost than comparable Western systems.
2StartupFox stories
2023Founded
Artificial IntelligenceSector
Oct 2026Latest coverage
Funding
DeepSeek has raised $7.4M across 1 disclosed round, most recently a First external round in 2026.
$7.4MRaised
First external roundLatest round · 2026
1Event
Chart appears once 2 more funding rounds are recorded — below that a chart shows less than the table does.
2026First external round$7.4MLiang Wenfeng (~20bn yuan), Tencent (~10bn yuan), CATL (~5bn yuan), JD.com, NetEase, China's national AI investment fund
Investor roster
Every disclosed backer and how often they've written a cheque — repeat names are the strongest conviction signal on the cap table.
New · Latest leadLiang Wenfeng (~20bn yuan)1 round · 2026
CATL (~5bn yuan)1 round · 2026
China's national AI investment fund1 round · 2026
JD.com1 round · 2026
NetEase1 round · 2026
Tencent (~10bn yuan)1 round · 2026
Aggregated automatically from the disclosed rounds above.
First external round — $7.4M, led by Liang Wenfeng (~20bn yuan).
Oct 2026 · funding
Reported by Bloomberg to be close to raising at least 80 billion yuan, about $12 billion, with Tencent and CATL among the largest backers, at a target valuation near $75 billion, as pre-IPO capital for a listing in early 2027. Not confirmed ↗
The rest of DeepSeek's profile is free
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DeepSeek is a Chinese artificial intelligence company developing open-weight large language models. Backed by quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer, it gained international attention for releasing frontier-class reasoning models trained at substantially lower reported cost than comparable Western systems.
Who founded DeepSeek?
Liang Wenfeng is the founder or leader of DeepSeek on record at StartupFox.
How much funding has DeepSeek raised?
DeepSeek has raised $7.4M across 1 disclosed round. The most recent was a $7.4M First external round in 2026.
Who are DeepSeek's investors?
Disclosed investors in DeepSeek include Liang Wenfeng (~20bn yuan), Tencent (~10bn yuan), CATL (~5bn yuan), JD.com, NetEase, China's national AI investment fund.
What is the latest news on DeepSeek?
The most recent StartupFox coverage is “DeepSeek Is Reportedly Raising $12 Billion From Tencent, CATL And State-Linked Funds” (7 October 2026). All stories are listed on this page.
Sources & updates
This profile is compiled by the StartupFox desk from company announcements, regulatory and exchange filings (RoC/MCA, NSE/BSE) and our own reporting. 0 of 1 funding round links to a named source.
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