Deepseek does not take VC money yet – here are 3 reasons

Dibsic Liang Winfing founder is not in a hurry to get investment from strangers, Wall Stay J. I mentioned Monday.

Deepseek is one of the most important startups in the world now after the Chinese company AI Silicon Valley took the storm with Her model Earlier this year.

Unlike their Deepseek Ai Model Provider’s counterparts, who regularly announce huge courses full of prominent investors, Liang has not announced any donation collection, although many VC interests. Rumors about their supposed investors even The gatherings that feed it (is baseless) In some Chinese stocks.

Dibsic founder does not want to lose control

An analysis of the records of Chinese companies conducted by Techcrunch is that Deepseek is 84 % owned by LIANG. The rest of the start -up is owned by members of the hedge box in Liang, with high mutations.

This means that unlike most startups, which require external capital and therefore it is used at least from the external effect, Deepseek is basically the width of one man. Liang is not the highest level of VCS opinions.

When Liang was trying to raise capital in the past, it was postponed by the VCS focus on achieving rapid criticism of artificial intelligence instead of basic research, he said in 2023 interview with Chinese media.

So one of the major reasons why Liang did not say yes to the investors who bomb his door is that he does not want to share control of his company, WSJ said.

Deepseek has not requested external financing – yet

Most startups need capital of investors from the beginning. But Dibsic is a unique monster. Liang managed to fund Deepseek through high divorce profits, which reduces his need for external investment.

“The money was not the problem for us. Liang said in 2023:” The ban on advanced chips shipments is the problem. “

Investors can deepen concerns related to trust and privacy

As a Chinese company, Deepseek operates under the strict Chinese laws that are granted its government up to wide data.

Fears about this Dibsic’s ban pushed An increasing number of governments Even Some private companies.

These banners can increase if Deepseek accepts financing from a Chinese investor, which faces similar issues.

The United States government has a history of punishing Chinese technology companies that say they are close to the Chinese government, such as the Huawei communications giant and the famous drone maker DJI.

This did not prevent some of the Chinese state entities from approaching Dibsic for investment and information I mentionedAlthough there is no Deepseek signal before.

Why can all this change

This does not mean that Deepseek will never raise the outside capital.

Earlier this month, Dibsic I declared a profit margin (largely theoretical) For the first time, it indicates a shift towards liquefy – which is the value of VCS but this Liang had previously rejected.

To keep pace with other heavy weights, Deepseek is likely to need to reach artificial intelligence chips. American export controls.

Dibsic’s ability to self -finance may fade. While the high divorce has achieved good performance in the past, some of its leading boxes have weakened in its weak performance since 2022, WSJ said.

It also does not help the Chinese government Breakage On quantum boxes such as high peripheral since 2024.

While a few concrete names are circulating, Deepseek has already caused attention from TENCENT and Alibaba, according to multiple news reports.

Deepseek did not immediately respond to a request for comment.