DeepSeek nears funding round of at least $12 billion with Tencent and CATL among top backers, Bloomberg reports

DeepSeek is close to raising at least 80 billion yuan, about $12 billion, in a new funding round, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Battery maker CATL and Tencent (TCEHY) have committed among the largest amounts, and the total could approach 100 billion yuan, according to the report. The company has not commented, and no valuation for the round has been confirmed.

This would be DeepSeek's second outside raise. Reuters reported in June that its first round raised about 50 billion yuan at a valuation of $52 billion to $59 billion, with founder Liang Wenfeng committing about 20 billion yuan of his own money, Tencent roughly 10 billion yuan and CATL about 5 billion yuan. The new round was reportedly increased from an initial 50 billion yuan target because of investor demand after DeepSeek's latest model launch.

DeepSeek has also hired CITIC Securities to prepare for a potential listing on Shanghai's STAR Market, though the timing, valuation and size of any IPO remain undecided. A raise of this size would deepen Tencent's and CATL's ties to a lab whose open models compete with U.S. systems.

What to watch: a confirmed close and valuation for the round, the size of Tencent's and CATL's final commitments, and any concrete IPO timetable from CITIC Securities.