DeepSeek to Lead Investment in AI Startup Winverse with $400 Million Valuation

DeepSeek, a research institution based in Hangzhou, China, is set to lead a seed funding round for the robotics AI startup Winverse AI, which was founded earlier this year. The investment is expected to be in the tens of millions of dollars, resulting in a post-investment valuation of approximately $400 million. Other investors in this round include Long-Z Investments, a subsidiary of Meituan. The deal is still in the negotiation phase, and both the valuation and the list of investors may be subject to change.

Winverse AI was established in 2026 by Hu Han, a former scientist at Tencent, who previously led the company's Vision-Language and Embodied Foundation Models team. Hu holds a PhD from Tsinghua University and has experience with Microsoft Research Asia and Baidu. The startup is currently operating in stealth mode, and inquiries to Hu Han, DeepSeek, and Long-Z representatives have gone unanswered.

This investment marks one of the largest funding rounds for a startup since DeepSeek was founded in 2023, as the institution seeks to expand its focus into practical applications such as humanoid robots for industrial use. DeepSeek has also recently acquired a 2% stake in Yushu Robotics during its listing in Shanghai, aiming to collaborate on embodied intelligent models. Additionally, DeepSeek is nearing completion of a new financing round of at least 80 billion yuan (approximately $12 billion), surpassing its initial target, with plans to go public in early 2027. The funds will primarily support model training and data centers, as well as potential investments in emerging startups.

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Source: KLEA News