DeepSeek nears $15 billion funding round backed by Tencent, CATL

Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek is finalizing a funding round of about 100 billion yuan ($15 billion), with Tencent and battery maker CATL among its biggest investors, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the matter.

The financing would rank among China's largest fundraising rounds and strengthen the Hangzhou-based company's ability to compete with US rivals OpenAI and Anthropic.

The round is expected to close in the coming days, though financial terms could still change, the report said.

Earlier, Bloomberg News reported that DeepSeek had raised the money after increasing its fundraising target at least twice, from an initial 50 billion yuan to 80 billion yuan before reaching about 100 billion yuan.

The funding push comes as DeepSeek's revenue grows rapidly. The Information reported on Sept 24 that its annualized revenue run rate had reached $1 billion, more than double its level a few months earlier.

The measure estimates annual revenue based on the company's recent pace of sales. Chief Executive Liang Wenfeng disclosed the figure at a meeting with investors, according to the report.

Liang told investors that higher prices for access to DeepSeek's models had not driven customers away and that demand remained strong, according to The Information.

DeepSeek generates most of its revenue by charging businesses and developers to access its models through an application programming interface.