DeepSeek close to raising at least $12bn in Tencent-backed round ahead of early-2027 IPO

DeepSeek is close to securing at least 80 billion yuan (about US$12 billion) in its latest funding round, blowing past its own capital-raising target ahead of a landmark initial public offering in early 2027, Bloomberg News reports.

Battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and Tencent Holdings have committed among the largest amounts in the current financing, which closes soon, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The startup had initially sought about 50 billion yuan, but interest outstripped expectations after the release of its latest AI model, the V4 Flash — and based on term sheets signed, the final tally could approach 100 billion yuan. People familiar with the talks cautioned that details may still change in final talks.

Reuters confirmed that DeepSeek is set to raise more than 80 billion yuan ($11.93 billion) and is expected to wrap up the fundraising in October. The round follows a roughly US$7.4 billion maiden external raise and targets a valuation of about 500 billion yuan.

The cash will bankroll enormous compute ambitions: DeepSeek plans to deploy at least 160,000 Huawei accelerators at a data centre under construction in Inner Mongolia, and recently partnered with Huawei on programming tools for its Ascend AI chips. The next step after the round, people familiar with the matter say, is a company restructure ahead of the domestic IPO.