DeepSeek lifts financing target to 80 billion yuan

Bloomberg said the target had previously been 50 billion yuan and that DeepSeek increased it before reaching the final tally.[1] Reuters reported that completion was expected in the coming days and that financial details and the investor lineup could still change.[2] Bloomberg characterized the round as one of China’s largest ever.[1]

More than 15 investors took part, Reuters reported.[2] Bloomberg identified CATL and Tencent among the round’s biggest investors.[1] Reuters also named GigaDevice, Meituan and Geely, as well as Midea and existing shareholder NetEase.[2] The investor list further included Boyu Capital, CPE, Legend Capital and existing shareholder IDG Capital.[2] Reuters put DeepSeek’s valuation at 500 billion yuan before the new capital was injected.[2] Separately, Reuters reported that the company raised $7.4 billion in its first external funding round in June, and that filings by two Chinese investors indicated a valuation of about $52 billion for that round.[2]

Bloomberg said the financing signaled DeepSeek’s ambition to compete globally with Anthropic and OpenAI.[1] Semafor reported that DeepSeek hoped to use the new capital for international expansion, while TechCrunch reported increased spending on AI infrastructure and open models for domestic and international markets.[4][5] Reuters said China aimed to stay competitive in the AI race against the United States.[2] Reuters also attributed to Su the view that investors were confident in DeepSeek’s open-source strategies and that the company could become a key part of domestic technology supply chains.[2]

The Wall Street Journal separately reported that the company was aiming for a Shanghai listing early next year.[3] Semafor said analysts viewed the rising financing targets as setting the stage for an imminent public listing.[4] At the same time, Semafor reported increased government and regulator scrutiny of DeepSeek’s security and privacy policies, including bans on government devices in some jurisdictions.[4] TechCrunch reported that the United States ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek technology from their systems, citing security concerns.[5]