Bloomberg reports DeepSeek raised about $15B in one of China's largest funding rounds, with Tencent and CATL as main backers
The Chinese AI pioneer DeepSeek has raised about $15 billion in its latest fundraising round, one of the country’s largest ever and a sign of the startup’s ambitions to compete globally with the likes of Anthropic and OpenAI
Context
A round this size gives China's leading open model lab far more money to compete with US labs and points toward a public listing.
Bloomberg first reported the round citing unnamed sources, and Reuters and The Wall Street Journal later reported similar figures from their own sources. DeepSeek, Tencent and CATL had not commented, so the deal is reported, not officially announced.
- Bloomberg: DeepSeek raises $15 billion in challenge to leading US labs
- Reuters via Business Recorder: DeepSeek wrapping up $15 billion fundraising
- WSJ: DeepSeek raises $15 billion ahead of planned Shanghai listing
- TechCrunch: DeepSeek reportedly raises $15B days after US restrictions
- zerohedge: DeepSeek raises $15 bln in funding deal joined by Tencent, CATL
Deep dive
Shortly after midnight on October 22 Eastern time, Bloomberg posted that DeepSeek has raised about $15 billion in its latest round, one of China's largest ever and a sign of its ambition to compete globally with Anthropic and OpenAI. zerohedge had posted the headline earlier.
Reuters then reported, citing two people with knowledge of the matter, that DeepSeek is wrapping up a round of about 100 billion yuan from existing and new investors, with CATL and Tencent among the biggest. One person said the round should close in the coming days but that details could still change. Reuters said that would double the original target of 50 billion yuan. The Wall Street Journal reported the $15 billion figure as a second private round and said DeepSeek aims for a Shanghai listing early next year.
TechCrunch noted the reported round came two days after the US ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek technology, and that it follows a June round of more than $7 billion at a $50 billion valuation. No valuation for the new round was given in the coverage found, and none of the companies had commented.
What to expect next
Watch for DeepSeek, Tencent or CATL to confirm the round and its valuation, and for the round to formally close in the coming days as Reuters's source expected. Also watch the planned Shanghai listing timeline, any new US restrictions on DeepSeek, and how the money changes its compute spending and model release pace against Chinese and US rivals. A full list of investors would show how much state backed money took part.