DeepSeek tells prospective investors of funding pause

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has told prospective ​investors in its second fundraising round that ‌it is suspending the deal for now, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday, citing people familiar ​with the matter.

DeepSeek ​verbally informed some of its potential backers ⁠that they would not be signing ​investment agreements in the coming days, the report ​said.

The company might resume the deal process at a later date, Bloomberg News added.

Reuters could not ​immediately verify the report. DeepSeek could not ​immediately be reached for comment outside regular business hours.

Hangzhou-based ‌DeepSeek ⁠planned to launch a fresh fundraise at a valuation of about 500
billion yuan ($74 billion), after a successful maiden round which ​raised about $7.4 billion.

The ​pause ⁠was reportedly driven in part by DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng's frustration ​over online reports on comments he ​made ⁠to investors during the startup's first fundraising round.

Reuters reported last week that DeepSeek had ⁠also ​started early deliberations on ​a potential IPO on Shanghai's Nasdaq-style STAR Market.


-Reuters