AI TRENDS | DeepSeek Considers New Fundraising Round One Month After Initial Raise, Sources Say

DeepSeek is considering raising funds again about one month after completing its first financing round, according to three people familiar with the matter cited by the Financial Times. According to Odaily, the sources said the company completed its initial round around late May, raising about $7 billion and reaching a post-money valuation of about $52 billion. Two of the sources said DeepSeek began preliminary outreach to new investors this week to discuss launching a new round at a pre-money valuation of about $71 billion, implying an increase of about 37% from the previous round. The sources said details of the potential fundraising have not been finalized. The sources attributed the rapid fundraising pace to market expectations that DeepSeek’s capital expenditures will rise significantly, including building its own data centers and purchasing more AI chips. They also said the company is expanding efforts in AI agents that can execute tasks autonomously, increasing its demand for computing power.