N環球 
DeepSeek close to raising at least $12 billion in Tencent- and CATL-backed round, Bloomberg reports
Bloomberg News reported on October 6 that Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is close to securing at least 80 billion yuan (about $11.9 billion) in new funding, with Tencent and CATL among the largest backers; Reuters independently corroborated the report with its own source.
Why it matters
If closed, the round would be one of the largest ever raised by an AI startup worldwide, signalling that China's AI capital pipeline is accelerating and reducing its reliance on foreign capital and Nvidia's ecosystem. Heavy commitments from Tencent and battery giant CATL also tie cloud computing to energy infrastructure, echoing DeepSeek's build-out around Huawei's Ascend chips.
Full report
Bloomberg News reported on October 6, citing people familiar with the matter, that DeepSeek is close to securing at least 80 billion yuan (about $11.93 billion), with the final tally possibly approaching 100 billion yuan. Reuters independently corroborated the report with a source of its own on the same day.
The round initially targeted about 50 billion yuan, but investor demand exceeded expectations after the release of the DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash model last month. DeepSeek hired CITIC Securities to prepare for a potential listing on Shanghai's STAR Market, though the timing, valuation and fundraising size remain undecided. The company recently partnered with Huawei Technologies to develop programming tools optimized for Huawei's Ascend AI chips.
DeepSeek, Tencent and CATL did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters said it could not independently verify the Bloomberg report.
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