DeepSeek Initiates First External Fundraising, Valuation to Exceed $10 Billion

BlockBeats News, April 17th. According to The Information, Chinese AI company DeepSeek is preparing for its first external financing, aiming for a valuation of over $10 billion, marking its shift from a relatively "self-developed driven" model to introducing external capital.

The report states that this financing round will be DeepSeek's first large-scale external fundraising since its establishment. Previously, the company mainly relied on resources from the parent company for development, with a valuation of around $3.4 billion in 2025. If this financing is completed, the valuation will see a multiple-fold increase.

In recent years, DeepSeek has rapidly risen with low-cost, high-performance open-source large models. Its model training cost is significantly lower than the industry average and is on par with top models in the United States in terms of performance, making a significant impact on the global AI competitive landscape.

Market analysis believes that this move indicates DeepSeek is accelerating commercialization and global expansion, while also reflecting the capital market's reevaluation of the "low-cost AI route." Against the backdrop of the current AI competition shifting from "computing power arms race" to "efficiency and application landing," DeepSeek is expected to become one of the most representative challengers in the Chinese camp.