Zhidx reports, citing Bloomberg, that DeepSeek is finalising a new funding round of at least RMB 80 billion, with Tencent and CATL among the largest committed investors.
According to signed terms, the final amount could approach RMB 100 billion, laying the groundwork for an initial public offering planned for early 2027. The size already far exceeds earlier expectations. People familiar with the matter said DeepSeek originally planned to raise about RMB 50 billion, but demand surged after its latest model drew a stronger reaction than expected, and the locked-in total has since blown past the original target. Negotiations are near the end, though the terms could still change.
Two fronts moving at once
The fundraise is not happening in isolation. Bloomberg said Moonshot AI, the maker of Kimi, has closed its final private round at a valuation of about US$50 billion, roughly RMB 335 billion, and is pushing toward a Hong Kong IPO in the first quarter of 2027.
DeepSeek has been preparing its listing for some time. On 9 September, Reuters reported it had hired CITIC Securities to prepare a STAR Market IPO in Shanghai. Two people familiar with the matter said the company plans to begin the IPO process this year, though the timing, size and target valuation are not yet fixed.
On 24 September, The Information reported that DeepSeek’s annualised revenue had reached about US$1 billion, roughly RMB 6.7 billion, more than double the sub-US$500 million level of a few months earlier. At the time it was finalising a new round expected to close by the end of October at a target valuation of RMB 500 billion.
What the money is for
On the product side, DeepSeek’s main API models are the flagship DeepSeek-V4-Pro-0813 and the lighter DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash. On 29 September its Harness team released a v0.2 preview of DeepSeek Harness, with desktop installers for macOS and Windows.
Editor’s note: This is an adapted translation of the original Zhidx report. It has been trimmed and restructured for readability for an international business audience. The full original (in Chinese) is at https://www.zhidx.com/p/598870.html.