DeepSeek nears a $15B round backed by Tencent and CATL

DeepSeek, the Chinese AI lab, is close to raising about 100 billion yuan, or $15 billion, reports said on October 22, 2026. Tencent and the battery maker CATL are among its largest backers. Dealroom says the two rounds DeepSeek raised this year, about $20.6 billion in six months, would be the largest primary-market financing in China this year.

China Daily, citing Reuters, says the round is expected to close within days. The terms could still change before then.

How the round grew from 50 to 100 billion yuan

DeepSeek did not set out to raise this much. Bloomberg reported that the target was raised at least twice, from 50 billion yuan to 80 billion yuan and then to about 100 billion yuan. In August, reports had DeepSeek nearing a raise of about 50 billion yuan at a $74 billion valuation. Tech Startups says investor demand pushed the total to twice that original target.

Stage	Reported	Size
First outside round	Closed in June 2026	About $7.4 billion, per Tech Startups
Second round, first target	Launched in July, per Dealroom	50 billion yuan
Second round, raised target	October 6, per Bloomberg	At least 80 billion yuan
Second round, now	October 22, 2026	About 100 billion yuan ($15 billion)

The valuation figures do not all agree. Tech Startups puts the pre-money value at about 500 billion yuan, or $74 billion, which could bring the value after the new money to nearly $89 billion. Dealroom's first report gave a pre-money figure of about $68.8 billion. Its update says Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal confirmed $74 billion. Pre-money means the price before the new cash is counted.

Who is investing

Reuters, cited by Tech Startups, counts more than 15 investors. Tencent and CATL were already shareholders. The new list also includes the carmaker Geely, chipmaker GigaDevice, food-delivery group Meituan, appliance maker Midea and gaming company NetEase. Investment firms Boyu Capital, CPE, Legend Capital and IDG Capital are in too.

Dealroom reports that CATL is doubling its stake. It adds about $1.38 billion on top of roughly $687.5 million it put into the first round.

Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at Omdia, told Reuters: "It's encouraging to see such a high valuation for DeepSeek, showing the confidence from investors." Su added: "I can see DeepSeek itself becoming a key part of these domestic tech supply chains."

What the money is for

Dealroom reports the funds are meant for model research and computing power. They come ahead of a corporate restructuring and a planned listing on Shanghai's STAR Market. Reuters reported that DeepSeek hired CITIC Securities to advise on that listing. No date, offering size or public valuation has been announced.

The business behind the valuation is mostly an API. China Daily says DeepSeek earns most of its revenue by charging businesses and developers for access to its models. The Information reported on September 24 that DeepSeek's annualized revenue run rate had reached $1 billion. That was more than double its level a few months earlier. Founder Liang Wenfeng told investors that higher prices for model access had not driven customers away, according to the report.

The round also lands under U.S. pressure. Dealroom notes it came two days after a U.S. order to remove DeepSeek technology from federal civilian agencies. Tech AI Wire covered that DHS order on October 21.

What this means for developers

For teams that call DeepSeek's API, this is mostly a capacity story. The money is aimed at model research and computing power, which points to more serving capacity, not less.

• Do not read the round as a price cut. DeepSeek's founder told investors that higher prices did not drive customers away. A company that says that has little reason to cut prices soon.
• Watch for the listing filing. A STAR Market listing would bring audited revenue and costs. That is the first reliable way to judge how long today's API prices can last.
• Check your compliance position. U.S. federal civilian agencies must now remove DeepSeek technology. Contractors and suppliers to those agencies should confirm whether that order reaches their own products.
• Keep a second provider ready. The terms are not final, and the valuation figures still conflict. Any team that depends on one model provider should be able to switch if prices or access change.