DeepSeek has brought in a number of industrial and financial investors in a new funding round, including Legend Capital, semiconductor-focused Shixi Capital and Geely, according to people familiar with the matter cited by foreign media.
At the same time, DeepSeek has engaged CITIC Securities to advise on its IPO, and brought in a new chief financial officer in September this year. The company could move ahead with an IPO as early as the beginning of 2027.
Legend Capital and Lenovo Group Ltd (ASX: 00992) both belong to the Legend Holdings system. Lenovo Group Ltd is a core industrial company under Legend Holdings, while Legend Capital is an important investment platform under the group.
Legend Capital's participation in DeepSeek's funding round means Lenovo-affiliated capital has formally entered DeepSeek's shareholder ranks. From an industrial synergy perspective, the investment further narrows the relationship between the Lenovo ecosystem and a leading domestic large-model developer.
Lenovo's current AI business already covers multiple areas including AI devices, enterprise AI and AI infrastructure. Among them, AI PCs, phones, tablets and other devices need continuous access to large-model capabilities, the enterprise AI business relies on combining models, agents and industry solutions, and the server and data center business takes on the computing power demand generated by model training and inference.
Previously, Lenovo had already carried out multiple product adaptations around DeepSeek, including integrating DeepSeek models into AI PCs, servers and enterprise AI solutions.
Legend Capital's further participation in DeepSeek's funding round extends the relationship between the two sides from product and technology adaptation to the capital and ecosystem level, and is expected to bring more room for synergy to Lenovo's AI devices, enterprise AI and AI infrastructure businesses.
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