DeepSeek is close to raising at least 80 billion yuan (about $12 billion) in a new funding round expected to close this month. Tencent and battery maker CATL committed among the largest amounts, and the Chinese AI lab is preparing for an initial public offering in early 2027, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
DeepSeek initially sought about 50 billion yuan, but interest outstripped expectations after the release of its latest AI model, according to Bloomberg. Based on term sheets signed, the final tally of the round could approach 100 billion yuan (about $15 billion), the people said, though details may still change in final talks.
Committed capital already exceeds that original target, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, which put the round at more than 80 billion yuan ($11.93 billion). DeepSeek kicked off the fundraising in July targeting a valuation of 500 billion yuan ($74 billion), a month after raising about $7.4 billion in its first external round.
Once the round closes, the next step should be to restructure the company to prepare for an IPO, Bloomberg’s sources said. DeepSeek has already hired CITIC Securities to prepare for a potential listing on Shanghai’s STAR Market, though the timing, valuation and fundraising size remain undecided, according to Reuters.
Tencent, which landed the biggest investment in DeepSeek at 10 billion yuan in a previous round, aims to integrate AI into its platforms, Bloomberg reported. CATL may be eyeing the business of supplying components to the AI industry, including for data centers. Founder Liang Wenfeng contributed to the previous 50 billion yuan round, which valued DeepSeek at roughly 350 billion yuan at the time.
DeepSeek needs huge amounts of capital for its ambitions, Bloomberg noted. The company plans to deploy at least 160,000 of Huawei’s top accelerators at a data center it is building in Inner Mongolia, according to Bloomberg, and it recently partnered with Huawei on programming tools optimized for Huawei’s Ascend AI chips, Reuters reported. Last month the company released DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash.
The capital raise has drawn controversy. DeepSeek briefly suspended the deal after comments widely attributed to Liang about US-Chinese AI competition went viral on social media, Bloomberg said.
A CATL representative declined to comment, and Tencent had no immediate comment, Bloomberg reported. DeepSeek did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment during a Chinese public holiday.
Sources
- Bloomberg News: DeepSeek to Raise at Least $12 Billion in Tencent-Backed Funding (October 6, 2026)
- Reuters: DeepSeek set to net over $12 billion in new fundraising, source says (October 6, 2026)
- AI Tech Daily: DeepSeek taps CITIC Securities for Shanghai STAR Market IPO (September 9, 2026 / post 3372)