Author: @Liu Jing, elsewhere
Regarding the financing information of DeepSeek, it is all over the place.
The known information, "elsewhere" will not reiterate. Below are some stories or details that we have learned which have not been previously shared.
The Legendary Four-Hour Meeting
First, let's discuss the investor meeting, also known as the well-known “four-hour meeting.”
In mid-May, DeepSeek organized this online meeting using Tencent Meeting System. At that time, the investors had almost been determined, with each institution having two slots to attend.
During the meeting, Liang Wenfeng spoke first, followed by questions from the investors, to which Liang responded.
Legend has it that there was a CVC investor who took ten minutes just to ask questions: first a long introduction about themselves, followed by three lengthy questions. The atmosphere in the room became somewhat awkward—such a scene is not hard to imagine. Some people whispered to each other, asking who this person was.
However, Liang did not take it to heart and continued to answer each question seriously. Although after answering the second question, he momentarily forgot what the third question was, prompting the other party to repeat it.
Before this, many of the investors who had already invested had actually never met Liang Wenfeng in person, so this was their first interaction with him. This led to many feeling a lingering resonance after the meeting ended.
Liang Wenfeng's insightful quotes and spirit began to circulate in the market.
Restraint and AGI
Liang Wenfeng is not someone who is particularly skilled at expressing himself, and his speech is not fast, but several quotes from that meeting are often mentioned (the gist may slightly differ from the original)—
“We have no fame and no influence, we are a group of very ordinary people.”
“The narrative that I like is that a group of ordinary people achieve extraordinary things. For DeepSeek, our core is to ensure team stability—this is more important than money and resources. This is the biggest risk and also the biggest challenge.”
“Assuming AGI will account for 20% of GDP, those wanting 5% will lose to those wanting 1%, and those wanting 1% will lose to those wanting 0.1%.”
“What we want to do is related to enhancing intelligence, we will not do anything else.”
“AGI is significant enough, other things are just processes.”
Throughout the four hours, Liang Wenfeng repeatedly emphasized similar issues: such as pursuing only AGI; such as less is more; such as restraint, etc.
From 5 Billion to 1.5 Billion
Official financing probably began in April of this year. It is said that there is a so-called "fund whitelist": which includes institutions with funding capabilities and strong branding.
Initially, DeepSeek required a minimum amount of 5 billion, not syndicate shares, and it must be a pure RMB structure.
Based on this context, a prominent investor who was initially rumored to definitely participate, but ultimately did not, is said to have sold shares to Middle Eastern LPs.
However, in China, there are very few market-based funds capable of investing 3 billion in a single financing round. So, some VCs repeatedly communicated about whether it could be broken into multiple fund entities.
As a result, the minimum investment amount for the fund was lowered to 1.5 billion, and the fundraising approach became more flexible.
There was also a saying that participating institutions were best not to have invested in other large models. This is likely impossible, for a simple reason—having not invested in large models but being a first-tier fund is contradictory.
During the investor meeting, Liang Wenfeng also expressed that DeepSeek is willing to help other companies—even large model companies. Of course, the premise remains that the other party does not come to poach his team.
Monolith
Monolith Lisi Capital appeared on the investor list quite early. However, the change was that the initial version was 1.5 billion, and it ultimately became 3 billion.
The change in numbers is said to be related to Guozhitou's changes in quota, releasing some shares—from the latter's 980 million RMB figure, it is not hard to see that it seems to aim for below 1 billion as an integer.
However, regardless, to dare to bet is indeed Cao Xi's distinctive style. He has already proven this once with Kimi.
Monolith should be the youngest VC among the institutions participating in this round of funding.
Zhengxin Valley
Zhengxin Valley might be the most surprising presence on the final list.
Many people's interpretation is that in the wave of large models in China, Zhengxin Valley has not invested in any company, making them more eager to get on board. However, as far as we know, they have actually invested in Kimi, probably between 6 billion and 10 billion US dollars. But compared to their fund size, the investment amount is relatively limited.
A market interpretation suggests that the founder of Zhengxin Valley comes from the secondary market, thus seemingly having a closer connection with Huanshuo. However, in the secondary market, doing quantitative trading and conducting subjective investments are actually two entirely different circles, even two different value systems.
As we understand, the reason this investment occurred is not only due to Lin Lijun and his partnerYe Chunyan but also related to the efforts of a new investor.
Zhengxin Valley was also one of the earliest VCs to start communication with DeepSeek.
Will DeepSeek Be the Biggest Miss for Sequoia and Hillhouse?
Now we arrive at the most surprising part of this deal.
In the initial rumors, Hillhouse was set to participate and would invest 5 billion. Zhang Lei has also repeatedly expressed to friends that since 2025, he has had exchanges with Liang Wenfeng and would visit Liang at home when in Beijing.
However, this narrative gradually changed to: Hillhouse would not participate, but Zhang Lei personally would invest. The reason for this is said to be related to Hillhouse's fundraising pace and some regulatory concerns.
Yet in the end, neither Zhang Lei nor Hillhouse appeared on the list.
On the other hand, Sequoia China was almost presumed from the outset not to participate. The most widely circulated version pertains to concerns over overseas LPs. We have asked many close to Sequoia, and they have expressed similar sentiments. Of course, there are also other rumors circulating.
In any case, the result is that Sequoia and Hillhouse, two institutions that were almost expected not to miss out, ultimately did not show up. A prominent lawyer told us that, theoretically, companies with a RMB structure cannot remain hidden.
Among the established VCs, only IDG participated.
Thus, someone posed a question to us: Could DeepSeek be the biggest miss for Sequoia and Hillhouse?
This is somewhat difficult to assess. However, as far as we know, DeepSeek may not only rely on this round of funding.
100 Institutions and Individuals
From the investor list, only 10 institutions participated. However, "elsewhere" simply delved into the fund entities and found that there were actually quite a few participants.
For example, the external CVC linked to the Ningde system—Puquan Capital's funding sources include state-owned assets from Xiamen, Ordos, and related entities of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. and the National Green Development Fund.
IDG Capital's various funds related to this transaction have notable insurance attributes and occupy a very high proportion of the 3 billion. Additionally, there are related entities like Nongfu Spring and Qipilang.
Monolith's current LPs mainly consist of state-owned assets in Zhejiang and Shanghai, as well as listed companies like By-Health and Yanghe Distillery.
Moreover, Jiuaan Medical is also one of the participants. In fact, Jiuaan is also an LP behind many GPs.
After a rough estimate, after shallow delving and simple de-duplication, there are roughly nearly 100 institutions or individuals that participated in this round of DeepSeek financing.
The Biggest Requirement: Do Not Poach People
DeepSeek's investment terms will not be detailed here. Just to add one point: whether for large companies or VC funds, Liang Wenfeng's most important requirement is: do not poach DeepSeek's people, or incite them to start their own ventures.
“China's Largest Listed Company”
If we return to the investment, what kind of win rate does DeepSeek actually represent?
One participating investor once worriedly remarked whether this might be an overly consensus-driven investment? According to industry experience, the outcomes of consensus investments are generally predictable.
However, for DeepSeek, it is difficult to say so. Or rather, we cannot understand it with a simplistic investment perspective. Whether it is its significance to China's AGI industry or its meaning on a spiritual level.
As one investor put it: "They are doing all this with immense goodwill. He seems to be telling us: the world should inherently be this way."
Thus, while some hesitate, others are confident, stating, "There is no reason not to invest"—if some people's expectations of an IPO come true, could DeepSeek potentially be the largest listed company in China's A-shares?
Low Profile and Ambition
In following DeepSeek's fundraising progress, there is a prominent feeling: for most people, DeepSeek is probably an unexpected answer, even for the group of investors who love to win the most, no one anticipated that it would open for fundraising one day.
As mentioned earlier, most of the investment bigwigs known to everyone only recently got in touch with the company. Of course, objectively, Liang Wenfeng has indeed not seen investors for a long time.
It has led to many institutions not even attempting to snag an investment opportunity after the news of financing broke. However, from the outcome, some secured tickets through so-called synergy, others through recognition, some through brand spirit, while others just through effort, eventually obtained their tickets anyway.
“elsewhere” once attempted to ask some investors, and most do not want to discuss this investment further. The sensitivity of the transaction is just one aspect; more so it seems to reflect a desire to maintain a low-profile awareness because they feel a sense of honor.
Some participating investors said that throughout the transaction process, they cherished every document, hoping that in the future they could frame them. Another investor repeated the 16-character phrase from the DeepSeek V4 preview release: “Not tempted by praise, not frightened by slander, act according to the way, and maintain integrity.”
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