DeepSeek raises 15 billion dollars in second external funding round
October 25, 2026 · 2 min read
The Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek has raised approximately 15 billion dollars in its second external funding round. The company secured the capital from a group of more than 15 investors, including the chip manufacturer GigaDevice, the delivery platform Meituan, and the automobile maker Geely. This financial injection is intended to strengthen the company's position in the global artificial intelligence market.
The total amount raised is double the initial target of 50 billion yuan. The participation of major Chinese companies and investors highlights a growing desire to expand the country's capacity to compete with the United States in artificial intelligence development. The funding round also included significant investments from the battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology and Tencent Holdings, which operates the WeChat messaging application. Both companies were already shareholders in DeepSeek before this new round. Other participants in the operation included the home appliance maker Midea, the technology company NetEase, and investment funds such as Boyu Capital, CPE, Legend Capital, and IDG Capital.
As of Thursday, October 22, the funding round was still in the process of being finalized. One source indicated that the final values and the list of investors could still be subject to changes. Before this new capital was added, DeepSeek was valued at 500 billion yuan, which is equivalent to approximately 75 billion dollars. This valuation represents an increase from the previous valuation of 350.88 billion yuan, or about 52 billion dollars, which was attributed to the company in documents submitted by two Chinese investors in July. Those documents referred to the previous funding round, which was completed in June and reportedly raised 7.4 billion dollars.
Lian Jye Su, the chief analyst at the consultancy Omdia, stated that the high valuation demonstrates investor confidence in DeepSeek's open source strategy. This approach allows developers to access and adapt the company's artificial intelligence models. The presence of companies linked to component supply and technological infrastructure may also strengthen the startup's position in the Chinese market. This move occurs at a time of caution among global investors regarding high spending on artificial intelligence. Such costs have pressured technology stocks and caused delays or cancellations of initial public offerings for companies in the sector.
The new funding also brings DeepSeek closer to a possible capital market listing. In September, reports indicated that the startup intended to begin preparations for an initial public offering on the STAR Market in Shanghai in 2026. The STAR Market is a stock exchange segment dedicated to technology companies. The company plans to receive support from the investment bank CITIC Securities for this process. Headquartered in Hangzhou, DeepSeek launched the model DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash last month. The company stated that this model was developed to provide greater processing capacity, faster responses, and scalability for larger models.