DeepSeek Nears 100B Yuan Second Funding Round; CATL to Add 10B Yuan

DeepSeek is about to complete its second funding round, with the proposed amount raised to approximately 100 billion yuan at a pre-money valuation of 500 billion yuan. Existing and new investors are expected to contribute about half each. CATL, which invested around 5 billion yuan in the first round, plans to add another 10 billion yuan. Tencent and other existing shareholders will continue to participate, while Geely and SMIC's fund, among other industrial investors, are also expected to join.

If this round is completed, DeepSeek's total funding within half a year will reach about 150 billion yuan, including the first round in June 2026, making it one of the largest financing rounds in the country's history. DeepSeek is an AI company focused on large language model development.