The round, as reported
The Information reported on October 29, US Pacific time, that DeepSeek's second financing round had brought in ¥105.5 billion, approximately $15.8 billion, from nearly 30 investors. PANews carried the details on October 30 in China. Bloomberg had already reported a completed round of roughly ¥100 billion on October 22. The new information is the more precise total and the reported breakdown of investors, particularly the increase in state-owned participation. DeepSeek has not publicly confirmed the financing terms.
Tencent put in ¥10 billion in this round, matching its ¥10 billion in the first round. CATL and its chairman Zeng Yuqun account for ¥5 billion in the first round and ¥10 billion in the second. The National AI Industry Investment Fund invested ¥1 billion in this round, the same amount as in the first round.
The investor list also includes companies across China's semiconductor and technology supply chain, notably memory-chip maker ChangXin Memory and foundry SMIC. Their reported participation broadens the financing beyond conventional venture capital. Whether those investments come with commercial arrangements, preferred access to hardware or other strategic terms has not been disclosed.
The reported state-linked share rose to 27%
The Information, as summarized by PANews, puts state-backed and state-linked participants at approximately 27% of DeepSeek's reported second round, compared with approximately 2% in June. Applied to the reported round sizes, those percentages imply roughly ¥28.5 billion this time and ¥1 billion previously. Those amounts are arithmetic estimates, not separately disclosed investment totals.
The definition matters. The reported participants include a government-guided AI investment fund alongside state-owned enterprises and state-linked financial institutions. The named investments carry ranges rather than exact amounts, and their reported totals reach the 27% figure only under particular assumptions about those ranges and which investors count as state-backed.
The reporting therefore points to a substantially larger state-linked financing presence. It does not establish the Chinese government's direct investment amount, its resulting ownership percentage or any governance rights acquired through the round.
The Information also reports that state-backed investors accounted for 19% of the combined funding across both rounds.
The valuation figures circulating do not reconcile
PANews, summarizing The Information's report, attaches a company valuation of about ¥615.5 billion to the round — about $86 billion at the conversions used in the summaries. PANews does not state a pre-money valuation, and the basis for the ¥615.5 billion figure is not specified in its summary.
Other summaries of the same reporting attach dollar figures ranging from about $74 billion to about $86 billion to the company's value. Those are not interchangeable descriptions of the same number, and the spread appears to turn on which valuation basis a summary used — a basis the summaries do not consistently state.
Until the original figures and transaction terms can be reconciled, neither dollar figure should be presented as a definitive completed-round valuation. The ¥615.5 billion figure itself circulates with its basis unclear in the summaries available, and DeepSeek has not confirmed any valuation.
Why the target doubled
The round reportedly began with a target of ¥50 billion and doubled midway through the raise.
According to two people cited by The Information, rising prices for Nvidia's high-end Blackwell chips were a principal reason DeepSeek doubled its original fundraising target. The reporting also describes concern about an AI-sector bubble. Those explanations come from unnamed sources, not a public statement by DeepSeek, and the company has not disclosed how the additional capital will be allocated between computing hardware, operations and other purposes.
What to watch
DeepSeek has confirmed none of this, and the underlying report is paywalled; every figure above traces to summaries of it. The company's previously reported plan to prepare a STAR Market listing, with CITIC Securities hired, would eventually force audited numbers into the open.
The structure matters as much as the size. The Information previously reported that first-round investors other than the national AI fund invested through a founder-controlled entity, relinquishing voting rights and accepting a five-year lockup, subject to an earlier IPO. Whether the second round uses any such arrangement is not established. That structure — who holds voting rights, and on what terms — is the disclosure to watch.
Until then, the honest summary is narrow: a very large round has reportedly closed, the state-linked share of its financing rose sharply, and the financing structure behind it has not been disclosed.
Sources
- [1] PANews, "Details of DeepSeek's 105.5 Billion Yuan Funding Round Revealed: Valuation of About 615.5 Billion Yuan, Nearly 30 Investors Participating", October 30, 2026, 07:28 UTC (summary of The Information — read first-hand: second round totaling ¥105.5 billion, about $15.8 billion, from nearly 30 investors, corresponding to a company valuation of about ¥615.5 billion; Tencent invested ¥10 billion in each of the two rounds; CATL and chairman Zeng Yuqun invested ¥5 billion and ¥10 billion respectively; industrial capital including ChangXin Memory, SMIC, vivo, Meituan, Geely, Midea, Luxshare Precision, Trip.com and Xiaohongshu participated, some single investors contributing ¥1–3 billion; the National AI Industry Investment Fund invested another ¥1 billion, the same as in the first round; China Mobile, China Telecom, CICC, CITIC Securities and China Life took part at ¥2–8 billion each; people familiar with the matter cited rising Nvidia high-end chip prices and AI-bubble concern as the reasons the fundraising size doubled midway. The PANews summary states the ¥615.5 billion figure and does NOT state a pre-money valuation figure)Read source
- [2] The Information, "Behind DeepSeek's $16 Billion Funding: Chinese Tech Titans and State Players" (Jing Yang and Juro Osawa), October 29, 2026, US Pacific time (original reporting, paywalled — read via summaries: ¥105.5 billion second round from nearly 30 investors; state-owned investors supplied about 27% of this round versus about 2% in the first round, and 19% of the combined funding across both rounds; the round's target doubled midway, per two people cited; first-round investors other than the national AI fund previously reported to have invested through a founder-controlled entity, relinquishing voting rights under a five-year lockup subject to an earlier IPO)Read source
- [3] ALFW, "DeepSeek's $12 Billion Round Is a Bet on China's Nvidia Exit", October 6, 2026 (context anchor — the earlier piece built on Bloomberg's October 6 preview report; Bloomberg subsequently reported a completed round of roughly ¥100 billion on October 22, as linked from the PANews summary)Read source