By Eduardo Baptista
BEIJING, July 16 (Reuters) – Chinese luggage maker Anhui Korrun said on Thursday a fund it invested in deployed 2.9 billion yuan for an indirect 0.8265% stake in DeepSeek, implying the private AI startup was valued at 350.88 billion yuan ($51.82 billion).
The stock-exchange filing offers rare public evidence about the pricing and investor lineup of DeepSeek’s maiden external fundraising, which the company has never announced. As a private company, DeepSeek has no routine disclosure obligations.
The Hangzhou-based startup did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DEEPSEEK TURNS TO OUTSIDE CAPITAL TO FUND COMPUTING CAPACITY
DeepSeek rose to global prominence early last year after its low-cost V3 and R1 models challenged assumptions about China’s ability to compete with U.S. AI leaders despite Washington’s restrictions on advanced chip exports.
The company had long rejected outside capital and relied on founder Liang Wenfeng’s quantitative hedge fund, High-Flyer. Reuters reported in May that DeepSeek reversed that strategy to fund computing capacity and improve employee benefits.
Reuters reported in June that DeepSeek was set to raise about 50 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) from investors including Tencent and CATL, potentially valuing it at 350 billion yuan to 400 billion yuan after the investment.
In its filing, Anhui Korrun said its subsidiary Ningbo Purun invested 40 million yuan in Tianjin Lisi Xingling Venture Capital Partnership, a fund managed by Chinese investment firm Monolith Management.
The 2.9 billion yuan fund acquired an indirect 0.8265% stake in DeepSeek, giving Anhui Korrun a 0.0114% look-through holding. Investors had paid by June 17, and Anhui Korrun was informed on July 15 that the investment was completed.
Separately, Jiuan Medical said its Hong Kong subsidiary invested 750 million yuan through a Shixiang Capital vehicle for an approximately 0.21% indirect DeepSeek stake.
The filings do not specify whether the investments involved new shares, existing shares or different rights, so the figure is a transaction-implied equity valuation rather than DeepSeek’s definitive round valuation.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that DeepSeek was planning another round of up to 50 billion yuan at a valuation of about 500 billion yuan, weeks after completing its maiden round.
It has also begun preparations for a Shanghai STAR Market listing and set a target to file for an IPO this year, people familiar with the matter said.
The plans underscore the rising cost of competing in AI, requiring heavy spending on chips, data centres and talent.
(Reporting by Eduardo Baptista; Editing by William Maclean and Joe Bavier)
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