A person familiar with the matter said DeepSeek is set to raise more than 80 billion yuan, above a 50 billion yuan target, ahead of a planned domestic listing. The company did not comment.
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is set to raise more than 80 billion yuan, about 11.93 billion dollars, in its latest funding round, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
The round began in July with a valuation target of 500 billion yuan, Reuters said, a month after a first external round of about 7.4 billion dollars. Committed capital has passed the original 50 billion yuan target. Two sources told Reuters the raise was expected to wrap up in October. Both declined to be named because the information was confidential.
Bloomberg, which reported the story first, said battery maker CATL and Tencent had committed among the largest amounts, and that the final tally could approach 100 billion yuan. A CATL representative declined to comment, Tencent had no immediate comment, and DeepSeek did not respond to Reuters, which noted a Chinese public holiday.
Reuters framed the round as capital ahead of a domestic initial public offering. No prospectus, share allotment or listing date was published by the company on Tuesday.
The reported next step is closing the round in October if investor commitments hold. Until DeepSeek confirms the figures, they remain those attributed to unnamed sources.