Two people familiar with the talks say demand has poured in from state-backed vehicles, venture firms, and the investment arms of listed Chinese companies. DeepSeek is screening prospective backers tightly, largely confining the round to government and corporate funds and rejecting private investment funds sourced from individual investors.
According to one of them, CATL, Geely Auto, Monolith Management and Loyal Valley Capital have put up capital. Requests for comment sent to DeepSeek, CATL, Geely Auto, Monolith Management and Loyal Valley Capital went unanswered.
Earlier Tuesday, Bloomberg said DeepSeek was nearing a deal for at least 80 billion yuan, naming Tencent and CATL as major supporters, and added that it is aiming for an IPO in early 2027. Bloomberg also reported that domestic rival Moonshot AI is targeting an early-2027 listing after a fundraise at a $50 billion valuation.
DeepSeek started taking outside money for the first time this year. It originally aimed to raise 50 billion yuan in the current round and is now considering lifting the amount to 100 billion yuan. The process is still fluid, so the final size could change before negotiations conclude, the people said.
The round had been slated to wrap up by the end of August, but one person said it stretched out as some potential investors hesitated over price. Negotiations are in their final stages. DeepSeek is targeting a valuation near 500 billion yuan, or $75 billion. Its first external round, closed in June, brought in about 50 billion yuan, and a related investor filing indicated the company was valued at roughly 350 billion yuan.
Fundraising rounds at this scale set the price of the whole AI sector. Market Briefs covers AI capital free every morning.
In January 2025, the release of AI models by DeepSeek, which matched American rivals at much lower cost, set off a decline in U.S. tech shares. The newest model, V4.1 Flash, debuted in September with greater capabilities and quicker inference.
Opening up to external capital was read as a signal of AI's swelling funding needs and the pressure to keep talent as competition intensifies. At a private meeting in July, founder Liang Wenfeng told investors that his priority is progressing toward artificial general intelligence rather than maximizing profit. Negotiations on the present round paused for a short time after reports that Liang told investors Chinese AI firms remained well behind U.S. counterparts and were heavily dependent on Nvidia chips.
Reuters said in September that DeepSeek enlisted CITIC Securities to get ready for a potential IPO on Shanghai's STAR Market.
A bigger raise at a higher valuation would show just how much capital top-tier AI now consumes and how eager strategic money in China is to get exposure. If you watch companies tethered to CATL, Geely Auto, Tencent or the broader AI supply chain, the final raise size and any early-2027 listing plans could sway sentiment far beyond one startup.
What investors pay privately eventually shows up in public valuations. Get the free Market Briefs daily newsletter and follow the money.
