DeepSeek's IPO is approaching as it aims for a valuation of $71 billion.

      DeepSeek is preparing for a public offering. The Chinese AI lab has begun setting the stage for an initial public offering (IPO), as reported by Bloomberg. It may submit its filing later this year, aiming for a market debut in 2027. However, the company first intends to secure additional private funding.

      The Hangzhou lab recently completed its inaugural external funding round, raising approximately $7 billion and achieving a valuation of about $50 billion. It is now in discussions with new investors for another funding round, with a pre-money valuation projected at a minimum of 480 billion yuan, roughly equivalent to $71 billion.

      Bloomberg indicates that DeepSeek is looking to raise at least 10 billion yuan, around $1.5 billion. The final amount could be significantly higher based on investor participation. The Financial Times initially reported on the new fundraising effort. The Information suggests a target closer to $7.4 billion for the second round.

      A considerable increase in valuation has occurred over a short period. A $71 billion valuation would represent a 40% increase in just six weeks. Looking back further, DeepSeek opened to outside investment in April at around $10 billion. Shortly thereafter, negotiations with Tencent and Alibaba helped push the valuation beyond $20 billion. By May, it was approaching $45 billion, and the round ultimately closed near $50 billion in June.

      The initial funding round was notably structured, with only one investor, China’s National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, obtaining direct equity and voting rights. All other investors' contributions went into a limited partnership controlled by founder Liang Wenfeng, which meant they lacked voting rights and faced a five-year lock-up. Typically, such a setup would deter interest, yet the round was reportedly oversubscribed.

      Regarding the IPO timeline, DeepSeek is collaborating with accounting and banking advisors to finalize its financial statements by the end of December, which is a necessary step prior to any filing. A listing could occur by the end of this year or early 2027, depending on when the financials are prepared.

      No specific exchange has been confirmed, but the market anticipates a listing in mainland China or Hong Kong, where domestic competitors Zhipu and MiniMax have already gone public. Zhipu’s stock has surged nearly 1,600% since its launch in January, setting a precedent that may encourage DeepSeek to proceed with its public offering. This timeline aligns with OpenAI, which has also postponed its IPO to 2027 while targeting a $1 trillion valuation.

      Investors continue to show interest in DeepSeek not just for its potential but also because its annualized revenue has recently reached between $400 million and $500 million, primarily from cloud access to its models, according to The Information. In June, DeepSeek represented nearly 23% of the enterprise AI gateway tokens processed by Vercel, according to TechCrunch, with only Anthropic, at 32%, performing better.

      This position was established through open-source reasoning models that compete closely with top US labs, despite export restrictions limiting China's access to advanced Nvidia chips. Instead, DeepSeek’s cloud service utilizes hardware from Huawei, highlighting that a competitive AI infrastructure can operate without American technology.

      For founder Liang, the valuation has been transformative. His share, around 78%, is now valued at approximately $36 billion, up from $16.7 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making him the richest AI founder globally, surpassing Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and OpenAI’s Greg Brockman.

      Liang has assured potential investors that DeepSeek will focus on long-term research rather than quick commercialization, continuing to release open-source models en route to achieving artificial general intelligence. This commitment is more easily upheld when backers cannot outvote him. The true test will come once DeepSeek is accountable to public shareholders following its IPO.