Chinese AI lab DeepSeek is close to raising at least 80 billion yuan, about $12 billion, from investors including Tencent and CATL, people familiar with the matter said.
Key Points:
- DeepSeek is close to securing at least 80 billion yuan, well above its original target of 50 billion yuan.
- Tencent and battery maker CATL have committed some of the largest sums, and the total could approach 100 billion yuan.
- The raise comes as the company prepares for a possible listing on Shanghai's STAR Market.
DeepSeek Funding Round
The financing is set to close soon, and term sheets already signed suggest the final tally could approach 100 billion yuan, people familiar with the matter said Tuesday. DeepSeek first sought about 50 billion yuan. Interest outran that target after the company released its latest AI model, the people said, asking not to be named because the details are private.
DeepSeek has not announced the round.
One person with knowledge of the matter put the raise at more than 80 billion yuan, with money coming from both existing and new investors. The round opened in July at a target valuation of 500 billion yuan, about $74 billion, a month after the company's first outside raise. Two people said it should wrap up in October.
A separate account described state-backed funds and corporate investors competing for stakes while DeepSeek limits participation by individual investors, with the final amount still subject to change. DeepSeek, Tencent and CATL did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Tencent, CATL Stakes
Tencent's own Hunyuan model trails domestic rivals including ByteDance's Doubao and DeepSeek, and the new commitment deepens the WeChat operator's tie to that lab.
A closer relationship could help Tencent keep pace with rival Alibaba, which has prioritized its in-house Qwen model, according to reporting from June. Tencent put 10 billion yuan into the first round, and CATL 5 billion yuan.
The money builds a reserve ahead of a domestic initial public offering, which one account placed in early 2027. DeepSeek hired CITIC Securities to prepare for a possible listing on Shanghai's STAR Market, though timing, valuation and size remained undecided as of last month.
The round would be DeepSeek's second since June, when a first outside raise of about 50 billion yuan closed with founder Liang Wenfeng committing 20 billion yuan of his own money. Until then, Liang had funded the lab himself through his hedge fund High-Flyer. DeepSeek drew global attention with its R1 model in early 2025, released V4.1-Flash last month and recently partnered with Huawei on programming tools for Ascend AI chips.
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