DeepSeek reportedly raising at ~$71B pre-money valuation, up 37% in a month
teortaxesTex · x · 2026-09-09
DeepSeek is reportedly conducting a new funding round at a pre-money valuation of roughly $71 billion — up about 37% from the $5.2B round it closed just a month earlier at a $52B valuation. Even with 5-year lockups and no voting rights, investors are scrambling for allocations.
Those shut out of direct shares are turning to SPVs: allocation-holding funds charge 6% entry fees at the first layer, 8% at the second, and lower-tier channels over 15%, plus up to 40% of profits — versus the typical 2% + 20% structure. FT reports these side arrangements weren't initiated by DeepSeek: founder Liang Wenfeng is personally vetting the final investor list to keep shares away from unidentified parties and reduce governance risks for a future IPO.
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