DeepSeek’s funding round is seeing frenzied hype: entry fees exceed 15%, with profit sharing reaching up to 40%.

Beating AI News Flash: DeepSeek is currently in a new round of financing with a pre-money valuation of approximately $71 billion. Just one month ago, the company completed its first round of financing at a valuation of around $52 billion, raising $7 billion. In just one month, its valuation has surged by about 37%. Even though the new round requires a 5-year lock-up period and no voting rights, investors are scrambling for allocations. Those unable to secure direct stakes are entering indirectly through institutions that have obtained quotas. These institutions are establishing Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) – fund structures created specifically for a single investment – to raise capital from external investors. Some first-tier channels charge a 6% entry fee, while second-tier channels charge 8%; lower-tier channels levy fees exceeding 15%, plus an additional 40% of investment profits. Similar SPVs typically only charge around a 2% upfront fee and a 20% profit share. These off-market arrangements were not initiated by DeepSeek. According to the Financial Times (FT), Liang Wenfeng has begun personally reviewing the final investor list and verifying underlying contributors to ensure shares do not end up in the hands of unidentified entities, and to mitigate governance risks that a complex shareholder structure could pose for a future IPO.