DeepSeek is currently undergoing a new funding round with a pre-money valuation estimated at approximately $71 billion. This comes shortly after a previous round just a month ago that valued the company at around $52 billion, representing a significant 37% valuation surge in a short period. Despite a five-year lock-up period for investments and no voting rights for most external investors, demand for DeepSeek shares is extremely high.
Due to the limited availability of direct investment quotas, a complex market has emerged involving multiple layers of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) to provide indirect access to DeepSeek equity. These intermediary channels are charging substantial fees. For example, some first-tier channels charge a 6% entry fee, while second-tier channels charge 8%. Lower-tier channels are reportedly levying upfront fees exceeding 15% and an additional 40% of investment profits. Other reports indicate fees of 18% front-end and 35% back-end profit-sharing arrangements, meaning a $100 million investment would incur an $18 million upfront fee.
These high fees are significantly above typical SPV charges, which are usually around a 2% upfront fee and a 20% profit share. It's important to note that DeepSeek itself has not initiated these off-market arrangements. The company is actively working to mitigate associated risks; Liang Wenfeng, a key figure at DeepSeek, has reportedly begun personally reviewing the final investor list and verifying underlying contributors to prevent shares from falling into unidentified hands and to address potential governance issues ahead of a future IPO.
In addition to the high demand and fees, the market for DeepSeek's financing has been plagued by issues such as fake investment quotas and intermediary misconduct. Some institutions claimed to control large investment allocations but ultimately failed to make the official investor list. There have also been reports of investors paying substantial amounts, such as $5 million in "meeting fees," without success. DeepSeek's Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) reportedly reached approximately $500 million last month, and its year-to-date AI infrastructure spending has hit $1.6 billion, nearly ten times its full-year spending in 2025.
