DeepSeek Wraps Up $15 Billion Fundraising Round Backed by Tencent and CATL

DeepSeek 15 billion fundraising is nearing completion, with the Chinese artificial intelligence startup wrapping up a round worth about 100 billion yuan, or almost $15 billion, backed by some of China’s biggest companies. The fundraising, first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by Reuters, doubles the company’s original target and marks one of the largest private financings ever raised by a Chinese startup.

Battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and WeChat operator Tencent Holdings were among the biggest investors in the round, according to two people with knowledge of the matter cited by Reuters. The fundraising is set to be complete in the coming days, although the people said financial details are not yet ironclad and could still change.

DeepSeek 15 billion fundraising doubles original target

DeepSeek had originally sought about 50 billion yuan, but strong investor interest pushed the target higher during negotiations, with the final figure reaching roughly double that amount. Reuters reported that many of the investors are backed by the state and by large corporations, underscoring how aggressively Chinese capital is lining up behind domestic developers in the race against United States rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

The company, based in Hangzhou, shot to global prominence with low-cost models that challenged the assumption that cutting-edge artificial intelligence requires the vast spending of American labs. Last month it released its latest model, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash, which the company said was designed for greater capability, faster inference and higher throughput, and for scaling to larger models.

What the round means for China’s AI race

The scale of the round signals that DeepSeek is moving from a founder-backed research project to a heavily capitalised challenger with the resources to expand research, computing infrastructure and commercial reach. It also brings the company closer to public markets: Reuters reported in September that DeepSeek had hired CITIC Securities to prepare for a potential listing on Shanghai’s STAR Market, although the timing and size of any offering remain undecided.

DeepSeek, CATL and Tencent could not immediately be reached for comment, Reuters said. The fundraising comes as competition between Chinese and American AI developers intensifies, with investors on both sides pouring tens of billions of dollars into models, chips and data centres.

FAKTA

• Amount raised: About 100 billion yuan, or almost $15 billion, in DeepSeek’s latest funding round.
• Biggest investors: Battery maker CATL and WeChat operator Tencent Holdings were among the largest backers.
• Original target: About 50 billion yuan — the final round is roughly double that figure.
• Status: Wrapping up and set to be complete in the coming days, though final details could still change.
• What’s next: A potential STAR Market listing is being prepared, with CITIC Securities hired to advise.

The fundraising underlines how central artificial intelligence has become to China’s technology ambitions, and how much domestic capital is now willing to bet on a home-grown challenger to the American leaders. For more technology coverage, see Watan News Technology.