What kind of company is DeepSeek
A Chinese AI company competing on open weights and low API prices. Below are verifiable facts, each with its source.
Our read: why it matters.
DeepSeek is not "another model company". Its investor list is an industry roadmap —
three semiconductor firms, one battery maker, one carmaker, one appliance maker,
one phone maker, plus platforms and the state. Each represents an industry that intends
to build on it.
Basic facts
| Item | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | July 2023, incubated by High-Flyer (幻方量化), headquartered in Hangzhou. | 来源 |
| Founder | Liang Wenfeng, founder of High-Flyer. | 来源 |
| Strategy | Open model weights plus low-cost API — not a closed high-margin play. | 来源 |
| First round | 2025, amount not publicly disclosed; state investors around 2%. | 来源 |
| Second round | Completed October 2026, about RMB 105.5B (~USD 15.8B), nearly 30 investors. | 来源 |
| Valuation | About RMB 615.5B (~USD 87B). | 来源 |
| State share | About 27% in round two (about 2% in round one); ~19% cumulative. | 来源 |
| Composition | Cumulative: tech companies ~42%, state investors ~19%, VC/PE the rest. | 来源 |
Investors by industry (round two)
| Industry | Investors |
|---|---|
| Semiconductor / hardware | CXMT (DRAM), SMIC (foundry), Luxshare (electronics) |
| Battery / new energy | CATL and chairman Zeng Yuqun |
| Automotive | Geely |
| Appliances | Midea |
| Consumer electronics | vivo |
| Internet / platform | Tencent, Meituan, Xiaohongshu, Trip.com |
| Telecom | China Mobile, China Telecom |
| Finance | CICC, CITIC Securities, China Life |
| State fund | National AI Industry Investment Fund |
| VC / PE | Monolith Management, IDG Capital, Boyu Capital |
What the structure means
These are not financial investors. They are industries that intend to use it:
- CXMT + SMIC + Luxshare — compute and hardware independence
- CATL + Geely — smart vehicles
- Midea — smart appliances
- vivo — on-device AI
- Tencent + Meituan + Xiaohongshu + Trip.com — application scenarios
We index the corresponding kits at industry kits and the applications at industry applications.
Timeline
Model releases and milestones: development timeline.
Caveat
Funding amounts and percentages come from public reporting
(The Information, relayed by Chinese financial media) and are not officially confirmed.
We cite sources but do not endorse them. Official statements:
deepseek.com.