Deepseek raises at least $12B with CATL, Tencent backing V4-Flash model
Deepseek is close to raising at least $12 billion in a new funding round, Bloomberg reports, with battery maker CATL and Tencent leading the investment. The startup originally sought $7.5 billion at a $75 billion valuation but may now target $15 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The surge in interest follows the launch of its V4-Flash model, which outperforms competitors…
Key points
- Deepseek seeks at least $12B, possibly up to $15B, in latest funding round with CATL and Tencent leading
- V4-Flash model outperforms Anthropic/OpenAI models while cutting costs, driving investor interest
- Company plans 2027 IPO after building a data center with 160,000 Huawei AI chips
Deepseek is constructing a data center powered by at least 160,000 AI chips from Huawei. Founder Liang Wenfeng has emphasized open-source development, offering freely available model weights. The round paused earlier due to viral criticism of Nvidia chip dependency, but the company has since resumed fundraising. In June, Deepseek closed its first external round at $7.4 billion, valuing it above $50 billion. It also released preview versions of V4-Pro and V4-Flash in April and is developing its own inference chips to reduce reliance on Nvidia and Huawei.
CATL and Tencent back Deepseek's ballooning funding round as the AI startup eyes a 2027 IPO
The Decoder · 6 October 2026
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