Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has told prospective investors in its second fundraising round that it is suspending the deal for now, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.
According to the report, DeepSeek verbally informed some of its potential backers that it would not be signing investment agreements in the coming days, though the company might resume the process at a later date. Reuters could not immediately verify the report, and DeepSeek could not be reached for comment outside regular business hours.
The Hangzhou-based firm had planned to launch a fresh fundraise at a valuation of about 500 billion yuan ($74 billion), following a successful maiden round that raised around $7.4 billion. The pause was reportedly driven in part by founder Liang Wenfeng’s frustration over online reports about comments he made to investors during the first fundraising round.
Reuters reported last week that DeepSeek had also begun early deliberations on a potential initial public offering on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style STAR Market.
