DeepSeek Financing Involves High Front-End and Back-End Fees

Huo Xing Cai Jing reports, according to Caijing, that in relation to DeepSeek’s investment shares, some intermediary channels in the market are demanding fees of “18% upfront and 35% backend,” meaning investors contributing 100 million yuan must first pay an upfront fee of 18 million yuan and, upon future gains, must additionally surrender 35% of profits. The report states that even if investors accept these high fees, they cannot guarantee securing any shares. DeepSeek conducts thorough identity verification on all investors and their underlying limited partners involved in the financing round; investments are subject to a five-year lock-up period during which transfers are prohibited. Aside from the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, most external investors do not hold voting rights or board seats and are entitled only to financial returns proportional to their investment. Meanwhile, the market has been plagued by fraudulent shares and intermediary misconduct surrounding DeepSeek’s financing: some institutions claim to control large investment allocations but ultimately fail to be included on the official investor list, while some investors have paid 5 million yuan in “meeting fees” in attempts to connect with Liang Wenheng—without success.