One signal

Update

What changed

A new account of DeepSeek’s second funding round says state-owned investors supplied about 27% of it, up from 2% in the first round. BigGo Finance attributes the figures and other financing details to The Information.

The report says Tencent and CATL again made the two largest contributions. Tencent invested 10 billion yuan in each round; CATL and its chairman, Zeng Yuqun, together contributed 10 billion yuan in the second, compared with 5 billion yuan in the first.

It also describes terms that concentrate control with founder Liang Wenfeng: investors, with one stated exception, were required to invest through an entity he holds, give up voting rights and accept a five-year share lock-up unless DeepSeek lists earlier. That is a notable structure for a round involving nearly 30 institutions, not just another very large cheque.

Sources and evidence

• DeepSeek raises 105.5 billion yuan in second funding round, led by Tencent and CATL, as state capital share rises to 27% – BigGo Finance: BigGo Finance, citing The Information, reports that state-owned capital’s share of DeepSeek’s second funding round rose to about 27% from 2% in the first, and describes investor terms that include relinquishing voting rights and a five-year lock-up, with an exception for the China National AI Industry Investment Fund.

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