DeepSeek raises about $15 billion in second private round ahead of 2027 Shanghai IPO
DeepSeek's second private funding round drew CATL, Tencent and more than 15 investors, with the company preparing a Shanghai listing in early 2027.
DeepSeek raised about $15 billion in its second private funding round, held from July to October 2026, according to aitimes.com. The original fundraising target was $7.4 billion, but the amount was raised due to investor demand.
CATL and Tencent were major investors in the round. New investors included semiconductor-focused private equity firm Stony Creek Capital and Legend Capital. Geely, Meituan, GigaDevice, MediaTek, NetEase and IDG Capital also reportedly participated, with more than 15 investors in total.
DeepSeek was valued at about $74 billion before the round closed, per the WSJ. The company plans to list on the Shanghai stock exchange in early 2027 and has selected CITIC Securities as IPO adviser.
DeepSeek hired Yan Wentao, from the venture investment industry, as CFO in September. Founder Liang Wenfeng told investors in September that annual recurring revenue had reached $1 billion.
DeepSeek plans to use the funds for AI data centers, computing infrastructure and new model development, and is working with Huawei to move some training to Chinese chips.
Background
Since last year, DeepSeek has released low-cost, high-performance AI models that showed it can compete with major US AI companies. After that, Alibaba, ByteDance and others in China's AI industry launched inexpensive AI models and services, expanding competition. DeepSeek still uses NVIDIA chips for demanding AI model training.
Quick answers
How much did DeepSeek raise in its second private funding round?
DeepSeek raised about $15 billion, above its original $7.4 billion target.
When does DeepSeek plan to list?
DeepSeek plans to list on the Shanghai stock exchange in early 2027, with CITIC Securities as IPO adviser.
Who invested in DeepSeek's round?
CATL and Tencent were major investors; new investors included Stony Creek Capital and Legend Capital, with more than 15 investors in total.