DeepSeek is reportedly doubling its funding to $15 billion, according to Bloomberg and Reuters
DeepSeek is in the process of closing a funding round of roughly 100 billion yuan (about $15 billion), according to independent reports from Bloomberg and Reuters on October 21 and 22, 2026. The round has doubled from its original target, battery maker CATL and Tencent are said to be behind the largest contributions – but nothing has been confirmed by the company itself, and the details could still change.
The news: a round of around 100 billion yuan, "within days"
The Chinese AI company DeepSeek, based in Hangzhou, has raised around 100 billion yuan in its latest funding round, according to Bloomberg – roughly $15 billion by Bloomberg's conversion, and $14.98 billion according to Reuters. Bloomberg described it as a major step in the company's effort to compete with the American AI leaders. Reuters, relying on four anonymous sources with knowledge of the matter, put it somewhat more cautiously: the round is nearing completion, with the closing expected within days.
Since none of the sources are named, and neither DeepSeek, CATL nor Tencent could be reached for comment, all the figures in this story are source-based estimates – not confirmed facts. Reuters' sources also stressed that the financial details and the investor list are not ironclad and could still change.
The target doubled along the way
The round's history says something about the demand. According to Bloomberg, DeepSeek raised its fundraising target at least twice: from an original 50 billion yuan to 80 billion yuan, before the round settled at the final figure of around 100 billion. A fundraising that has doubled from its first draft is unusual in itself, and Dealroom characterizes the transaction – if completed – as the largest primary-market financing in China this year.
The investors: industrial and technology giants, not just venture capital
The investor list is the most unusual part of the story. According to Bloomberg, battery maker CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology) and Tencent Holdings, the company behind WeChat, were among the largest investors.
Reuters also names a series of new investors that came into this round: appliance maker Midea, food-delivery giant Meituan, carmaker Geely and semiconductor company GigaDevice. Among the other investors are Boyu Capital, CPE, Legend Capital and existing owner IDG Capital. In total, the number of investors is said to exceed 15, according to Reuters' sources.
It is worth noting that the investor lists differ between the sources. CNBC reported as early as October 6, citing two sources, that the round attracted state-backed funds, investment arms of listed Chinese companies and venture capital firms, and that CATL, Geely Auto, Monolith Management and Loyal Valley Capital had committed capital, according to one source. Dealroom mentions, among others, Stony Creek Capital and China Fortune-Tech Capital. The lists overlap in part but are not unified – and since none of the companies have commented, it is impossible to merge them into a single authoritative overview. What is certain is that the list points beyond traditional venture capital and toward China's industrial heavyweights.
The price that nearly stalled the round
According to the CNBC account, the round was delayed because some investors hesitated over the price. DeepSeek is said to have sought a valuation of around 500 billion yuan, roughly $75 billion, before new capital comes in.
Here an unresolved contradiction arises in the source material: Reuters reports a pre-money valuation of 500 billion yuan (about $75 billion), while Dealroom cites a pre-money valuation of roughly $68.8 billion. The difference of around six billion dollars has not been clarified in the available reports, and should be kept open until the company itself comments.
Based on the stated figures, if the round is completed, Dealroom says it will bring DeepSeek's total capital raised to around $20.6 billion – in six months. Dealroom also states that the investment is roughly evenly split between existing and new shareholders.
What the money is for – and what we actually don't know
The wire reports from Bloomberg and Reuters say explicitly nothing about how DeepSeek will use the money. Dealroom summarizes press reports as saying the funds will go toward model research and computing power, but that is a summary, not a confirmation from the company.
The context nonetheless points in a clear direction. Bloomberg has previously reported that DeepSeek has increased spending on data centers and open models ahead of a possible listing. Reuters reported in September that the company has hired CITIC Securities to prepare a potential listing on Shanghai's STAR Market (China's tech exchange), and Dealroom describes an ongoing corporate restructuring ahead of an IPO. A capital round of this format, with a dozen institutional and industrial investors, is in practice also an arrangement of the ownership structure ahead of any listing.
The company's own stated earnings also give an indication of why big money wants in. The Information reported on September 24 – according to accounts in China Daily – that DeepSeek's annualized revenue run rate has reached $1 billion, more than double the level of a few months earlier, as stated by founder and CEO Liang Wenfeng at a meeting with investors. That is, however, clearly not enough to justify a valuation in the range of $70–75 billion on conventional multiples: the investors are betting on growth, computing capacity and a position against OpenAI and Anthropic, not on current revenues.
On the technical side, the company released the DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash model in September, which the company itself described as built for higher capability, faster inference, higher throughput and scaling to larger models – a description Reuters relays from the company, not as an independent assessment.
Why the investor list matters
The composition of CATL, Tencent, Midea, Meituan, Geely and GigaDevice is more than a curiosity. It signals that China's largest industrial and platform companies want direct ownership in one of the country's foremost AI companies – access to model development, computing power and possibly the option of growth through a listing. For DeepSeek, it means a capital base and an industrial network that differ from a classic American venture path, while such strategic investors may also have their own interests in the company's direction.
A STAR listing would, incidentally, be unusual for a company of DeepSeek's profile and age, and would give Chinese private investors a rare direct exposure to the front line of AI development.
What remains
The story has, per the available reports, three open points. First: nothing is confirmed – neither the amount, the valuation, the investor list nor the use of funds has been confirmed by DeepSeek, and Reuters' sources themselves say the details could change before the round formally closes. Second: the valuation discrepancy between 500 billion yuan (about $75 billion) at Reuters/CNBC and $68.8 billion at Dealroom is unresolved. Third: the terms surrounding a restructuring and possible STAR listing are known only in broad strokes, and the timing is unclear.
If the round closes roughly as reported, DeepSeek will be left with around 100 billion yuan in new capital, an investor list ranging from China's largest battery maker to the country's largest food-delivery service, and a listing plan that could make it all the year's most important financing story in Chinese technology – until then, all of this remains the sources' word, not the company's.