The Information confirms: DeepSeek completed over US$7 billion in financing, investors have no voting rights and no board seats
The Information reported that DeepSeek completed more than US$7 billion in financing (the largest single round in China's AI industry), adopting an unusual structure: investors have economic rights but no voting rights, no board seats, and a five-year lock-in period. The National AI Fund is the only exception.
The Information confirms: DeepSeek completed over US$7 billion in financing, investors have no voting rights
According to The Information, DeepSeek completed over 7 billion (approximately 47.4 billion yuan) in financing using an unusual transaction structure, with a valuation of more than 50 billion (approximately 338.6 billion yuan), setting a new record for a single round of financing in China’s AI industry.
Key terms in the deal structure: Investors have financial rights but no voting rights, no board seats and are subject to a five-year lock-in period. The only exception is the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund - which directly injects about 1 billion yuan, is not subject to a lock-in period, and enjoys company voting rights. Tencent Holdings, CATL, JD.com, NetEase and IDG Capital participated in the round.
This financing structure of "money can be taken but words cannot be said" is extremely rare in the history of global technology entrepreneurship. Liang Wenfeng reversed the traditional relationship of "capital hiring technology" to "technology hiring capital" - external funds buy back-row financial dividend votes, not the steering wheel.
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