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TL;DR
Several news organizations reported that DeepSeek raised about 100 billion yuan in a second funding round, while The Information put the amount at 106 billion yuan and said the round had closed. DeepSeek has not publicly confirmed the deal; investor details and some terms remain disputed. The reported financing would mark a shift for a lab previously funded by its owner, High-Flyer.
DeepSeek reportedly closed a second funding round worth about 100 billion yuan—roughly $15 billion to $16 billion—according to several news organizations, a major change for the Chinese AI company previously financed by its owner, hedge fund High-Flyer. DeepSeek has not publicly confirmed the round, and reporting differs on its final size, investors and the role of state-backed institutions.
Bloomberg, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported on October 22 that DeepSeek had raised about 100 billion yuan. Reuters, citing four people, described the round as wrapping up; Bloomberg and the Journal also reported a figure near that amount. On October 23, The Information reported that the financing had closed at 106 billion yuan, or about $15.9 billion, citing three people. The Information published further investor details on October 30. These accounts are not a public announcement by DeepSeek.
The outlets broadly agree that the round was around 100 billion yuan and put DeepSeek’s pre-money valuation at about 500 billion yuan. Bloomberg and Reuters identify battery maker CATL and Tencent among the largest investors. Reuters also names Midea, Meituan, Geely, chipmaker GigaDevice, existing shareholders NetEase and IDG Capital, and investment firms Boyu Capital, CPE and Legend Capital. Reuters says there are more than 15 investors. The available reporting does not provide a company-issued investor list.
The reports also say founder Liang Wenfeng told investors in September that DeepSeek was generating revenue at an annualized pace of $1 billion. That figure is attributed to Liang and is not presented in the source material as audited revenue. The Information’s account says the round includes influential state-backed institutions, but a claim that China’s state chip fund led with 27% state capital has not been independently corroborated in the reporting described here.
Infographic 01 · Two rounds in six months
From self-funded to $74 billion.
DeepSeek took no outside money until 2026. Then came two rounds, a paused deal and a U.S. order, all in six months.
How the price moved
Reported valuations, U.S. dollars
The striped bar is my calculation (about 600 billion yuan), not a reported figure. Exchange rates vary between outlets.
Who owned DeepSeek after round 1
Share of registered capital, July 2026, as reported by Caixin
Registered capital is not the same as economic value. The October round is not yet in any reported filing.
- 22 Apr 2026Tencent and Alibaba in talks, valuation above $20 billionThe Information · first round, talks only
- 16 Jun 2026Round 1 closes: more than 50bn yuan ($7.4bn), “unusual deal structure”The Information · Liang 20bn, Tencent ~10bn, CATL 5bn yuan (Reuters, Caixin)
- 25 Jul 2026Round 2 paused after a purported investor transcript went viralBloomberg
- 6 Oct 2026Round may double to 100bn yuan; state-backed funds and companies “jostling”CNBC
- 20 Oct 2026U.S. order: DeepSeek products out of federal civilian ITDHS, Federal Register 2026-21447
- 22 Oct 2026About 100bn yuan raised · Reuters: “wrapping up”, “not ironclad”Bloomberg, Reuters, WSJ
- 23 Oct 2026Closed at 106bn yuan ($15.9bn), three people sayThe Information
- 30 Oct 2026Investor details: tech titans and “state-backed institutions”The Information
Sources: The Information, 22 Apr 2026; The Information, 16 Jun 2026; The Information, 23 Oct 2026; The Information, 30 Oct 2026; Reuters, 22 Oct 2026; Bloomberg, 22 Oct 2026; WSJ, 22 Oct 2026; CNBC, 6 Oct 2026; Caixin, 17 Jul 2026; DHS order, Federal Register, 20 Oct 2026. Arithmetic marked as mine.
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A New Scale of AI Financing
If confirmed, the financing would give DeepSeek substantial private capital after its models drew attention for competing with U.S. systems while being developed with a comparatively leaner cost profile. The reported amount is about double the original fundraising target described in earlier coverage. A round at that scale could support research, computing capacity and commercial growth, though the company has not disclosed how it would use the money.
The reported participation of major technology companies and potentially state-backed institutions also matters because it would connect an influential Chinese AI lab to a broader set of corporate and public-sector interests. The extent of that involvement is not settled: specific investor claims vary, and the state-fund leadership detail has not been confirmed by a second outlet. For customers, the funding report does not itself change product terms. The source material says DeepSeek’s model weights remain available under the MIT licence, while use of its own app and API involves a separate data arrangement.
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From High-Flyer to Outside Investors
DeepSeek is based in Hangzhou and was founded by Liang Wenfeng. The Information describes the lab as owned by High-Flyer, the hedge fund that financed its work before the reported outside rounds. The fundraising timeline has been covered in stages, and earlier headlines about possible Tencent and Alibaba investment have sometimes been conflated with later deals.
In April, The Information reported that Tencent and Alibaba were in talks to invest at a valuation above $20 billion. That report came before DeepSeek’s first outside round. The Information later reported that the first round closed in June at more than 50 billion yuan, or about $7.4 billion. A July account by Caixin, based on a stock-exchange filing by a small listed investor, put the post-money valuation above 350 billion yuan, around $52 billion. The source material says Alibaba is not named in the reported investor lists for either round.
Caixin’s reporting on the first round also identified China’s National AI Industry Investment Fund as a direct shareholder with about 0.28% ownership. The source describes the fund as co-controlled by the state’s chip fund. Liang held about 91% of registered capital on the last reported register, directly or through a partnership he controls. No registry change reflecting the October round had been reported by October 30, so those earlier ownership figures do not establish the current distribution.
“The round closed at 106 billion yuan.”
— The Information
Deal Terms Still Lack Confirmation
DeepSeek has not publicly confirmed the round, its closing date, total proceeds or valuation. The reported amount ranges from about 100 billion yuan to 106 billion yuan. The reports also differ in how they describe the status: Reuters said the round was wrapping up, while The Information later reported that it had closed.
The investor picture is also incomplete. CATL and Tencent are named among the largest investors by Bloomberg and Reuters, but accounts of other participants vary. Newsletter summaries of The Information’s paywalled report say the state’s chip fund led the round and that state capital made up 27%; the source material says this detail could not be verified and that no second outlet reported it. No October registry update is cited, so changes to Liang’s ownership and the fund’s resulting stakes remain unknown. The reported $1 billion annualized revenue figure has not been established as audited financial data.
Awaiting a Company Statement
The next clear milestone would be a statement from DeepSeek confirming whether the round closed and setting out its amount, valuation and participants. Updated corporate registry filings could provide a more formal view of ownership, although the source material reports no such filing for the October financing as of October 30.
Until that information appears, readers and businesses should distinguish the financing reports from verified company disclosures. The reports do not indicate a change to DeepSeek’s products. The source material says the open model weights remain available under the MIT licence, while DeepSeek’s app and API store data in China. It also says a U.S. Department of Homeland Security order dated October 20 requires federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek products from their IT systems. Those are separate matters from the reported funding round.
Key Questions
How much did DeepSeek reportedly raise?
Bloomberg, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported about 100 billion yuan, roughly $15 billion. The Information reported 106 billion yuan, about $15.9 billion. DeepSeek has not confirmed either figure.
Has DeepSeek confirmed the funding round?
No public confirmation from DeepSeek is included in the reporting available as of October 30, 2026. The accounts come from news organizations citing sources.
Who are the reported investors?
Bloomberg and Reuters name CATL and Tencent among the largest investors. Reuters also lists Midea, Meituan, Geely, GigaDevice, NetEase, IDG Capital, Boyu Capital, CPE and Legend Capital. The investor roster has not been confirmed by DeepSeek.
Did China’s state chip fund lead the round?
That claim appears in summaries of The Information’s report, but the source material says it could not be independently verified and no second outlet reported it. The fund’s alleged leadership role and reported 27% state-capital share remain unconfirmed.
Does the funding report change DeepSeek’s products or data terms?
The reports do not describe a product change tied to the financing. The source material says DeepSeek’s model weights remain under the MIT licence, while its own app and API store data in China; these are separate from the funding news.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
