May 7, 2026 – According to sources familiar with the matter, as reported by the Financial Times, China’s National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, commonly known as the Big Fund, is in discussions to lead a new round of funding for DeepSeek.
Once this financing round is completed, the company’s valuation is projected to soar close to $45 billion.
DeepSeek’s founder, Liang Wenfeng, might also make a personal follow – on investment in this round. According to the company’s regulatory filings, Liang Wenfeng controls approximately 89.5% of DeepSeek’s equity through personal shareholdings and affiliated entities.
Previously, The Information had reported that tech giants Tencent and Alibaba were in talks to invest in DeepSeek. At that time, the company’s potential valuation was around $20 billion. In just half a month, the expected valuation has doubled.
It is learned that initially, Liang Wenfeng only planned a token – sized financing, mainly for the purpose of pricing employee stock options. This was to prevent key technical personnel from being poached by competitors with high salaries.
However, as the company’s valuation has risen rapidly, its financing strategy may have been adjusted accordingly. It now plans to expand the scale of financing to support future investment in computing power.
