DeepSeek raises 15 billion dollars with Meituan, Geely and Tencent to expand global AI dispute

A startup chinesa de inteligência artificial DeepSeek raised approximately 15 billion dollars in its second external funding round, with participation from over 15 investors. The round included the chip manufacturer GigaDevice, the delivery company Meituan and the automaker Geely, according to four sources heard by Reuters. The fundraising exceeds twice the initial target of 50 billion yuan and reinforces the interest of Chinese companies and investors in expanding the country's capacity to compete with the United States in AI development.

The round also featured significant investments from the battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology CATL and Tencent Holdings, operator of the messaging app WeChat, which were already shareholders of DeepSeek. The appliance manufacturer Midea, the technology company NetEase and funds such as Boyu Capital, CPE, Legend Capital and IDG Capital also participated in the operation.

The fundraising was still in the process of completion on Thursday, the 22nd, and the final values and investor list could suffer changes, according to one of the sources heard by the agency.

Billion-dollar valuation reinforces Chinese AI strategy

Before the new resources entered, DeepSeek was valued at 500 billion yuan, according to Reuters sources, equivalent to approximately 75 billion dollars. The value represents an increase relative to the valuation of 350.88 billion yuan, about 52 billion dollars, attributed to the company in documents presented by two Chinese investors in July, referring to the previous funding round completed in June. At that time, the startup would have raised 7.4 billion dollars, according to information published by Reuters.

For Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at consultancy Omdia, the valuation demonstrates investor confidence in DeepSeek's open-source strategy, which allows developers to access and adapt AI models. The presence of companies linked to component supply and technological infrastructure may also strengthen the startup's position in the Chinese market.

The movement occurs at a moment of caution from global investors facing high AI spending, which have pressured technology stocks and caused delays or cancellations of initial public offerings of companies in the sector.

The fundraising also brings DeepSeek closer to a possible initial public offering. In September, Reuters reported that the startup intended to begin preparations still in 2026 for an IPO on the STAR Market, Shanghai's stock market for technology companies, with support from investment bank CITIC Securities. Based in Hangzhou, the company launched last month the DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash model, which, according to the company itself, was developed to offer greater processing capacity, faster responses and scalability for larger models.

Reported by Tecmundo.