Chinese AI Startup DeepSeek Reportedly Raising 100 Billion Yuan

What happened

• DeepSeek is reportedly wrapping up a funding round that has generated approximately 100 billion yuan, or about $14.98 billion [2, 3].
• The fundraising is expected to be completed in the coming days, though sources note financial details are not ironclad and could change [2, 3].
• This amount doubles the company’s original fundraising target of 50 billion yuan [2, 3].
• Reported investors include existing shareholders CATL, Tencent Holdings, NetEase, and IDG Capital [2, 3].
• Other participants reportedly include GigaDevice, Meituan, Geely, Midea, Boyu Capital, CPE, and Legend Capital [3].
• The startup is using the funds to increase spending on AI infrastructure and open models for domestic and international markets [1].
• DeepSeek was founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, who previously co-founded the quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer [1].
• The company gained attention in early 2025 for its free-to-use, open-weight RI reasoning model [1].
• DeepSeek reportedly had a valuation of $50 billion during a June funding round where it raised over $7 billion [1].
• In July, the company was reportedly seeking an additional $1.5 billion at a valuation of approximately $71 billion [1].
• The company has plans for a potential IPO in China, with Reuters reporting in September that it hired CITIC Securities to prepare for a potential STAR Market IPO [1, 2].

This funding round follows a period of regulatory tension, occurring days after the U.S. ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek’s AI technology from their systems due to national security concerns [1].

Who is affected

• The Hangzhou-based startup is expanding its reach into both domestic and international markets [1].
• The expansion may increase competition among domestic AI rivals in China [1].
• According to analyst Lian Jye Su of Omdia, the involvement of Chinese component supply chain vendors could make DeepSeek a key part of domestic tech supply chains [3].
• Other Chinese AI companies in the market include Moonshot AI, which secured $2 billion at a $20 billion valuation in May, and Manus AI, which raised over $500 million earlier this month [1].
• Companies Zhipu AI and MiniMax, which went public in Hong Kong in January, have market capitalizations of roughly $29 billion and $7.2 billion respectively [1].