DeepSeek Raises 11.93 Billion USD in Pre-IPO Funding Round

close up of dark blue circuit board — Vishnu Mohanan / Unsplash

The artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek is expected to raise more than 80 billion yuans, which is approximately 11.93 billion USD, in its most recent funding round.

This capital increase is intended to strengthen the company's cash reserves before an initial public offering in the domestic market. The funding process is expected to conclude in October 2026.

Interest from both new and existing investors caused the committed capital to exceed the original target of 50 billion yuans. DeepSeek began this funding round in July 2026, targeting a valuation of 500 billion yuans, or 74 billion USD. This followed a previous external fundraising process in which the company raised about 7.4 billion USD.

Some sources indicate that DeepSeek is close to securing at least 80 billion yuans, with the possibility that the final total could reach 100 billion yuans. Major commitments in the current round include the battery manufacturer CATL and the technology conglomerate Tencent Holdings.

In a separate move, DeepSeek partnered with Huawei Technologies to develop programming tools optimized for Ascend artificial intelligence chips. This initiative is part of an effort to reduce dependence on the Nvidia artificial intelligence ecosystem. Additionally, the company recently released its latest model, DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash, which is designed for higher capacity, faster inference, higher throughput, and scalability for larger models.

DeepSeek has hired CITIC Securities to prepare a potential offering on the STAR Market. The specific timeline, valuation, and size of the public offering have not yet been defined.