DeepSeek's 'most bizarre' fundraise: no CFO, one email, 5-year lockups
zijing_wu · x · 2026-09-09
Blogger zijingwu calls DeepSeek's reported fundraise the most bizarre in tech history: no CFO, no roadshow — investors submit commitments via a single email; no voting rights or board seats, with 5-year lockups; and cleanup of shady SPVs charging 15–40% fees ahead of a potential IPO. "Absolute founder mode." Unofficial details, not confirmed by the company.
More from Venture
- Epoch AI: GDP Stats Understate US Growth by 0.3pp, Mostly the Nvidia-Sized Hole — abhiadesai · 2026-09-09
- Indie dev breaks down AI device economics: $62 hardware, up to $300/month self-hosted voice — pramodk73 · 2026-09-09
- INMO raises C3 round, C-series total nears 1B yuan, preps for IPO — 智东西 · 2026-09-09
- Founder-angels dominate: Guillermo Rauch leads with 128 investments, Dylan Field 97 — FinanceYF5 · 2026-09-09
- Gimlet Labs raised $300M after telling investors OpenAI could spend $100M+ a year — arthurcolle · 2026-09-09
- Indie developer lands a $900 deal from ChatGPT-sourced traffic — gefei55 · 2026-09-09