FUNDING · STARTUPS · #1584
Deepseek nears at least $12B funding with CATL, Tencent backing as V4-Flash drives interest
Deepseek is reported to be close to raising at least $12 billion (people say the total could approach $15 billion) in a new funding round, with battery maker CATL and Tencent taking the largest stakes. The Chinese AI startup’s V4-Flash model has been cited as the main driver of investor interest; Deepseek plans to restructure toward an IPO in early 2027, is building a data center with at least 160,000 Huawei AI chips, and is developing its own inference chip after briefly pausing the round following founder Liang Wenfeng’s viral comments about Nvidia reliance.
KEY POINTS
- Deepseek is reported to be close to raising at least $12 billion (people say the total could approach $15 billion) in a new funding round, with battery maker CATL and Tencent taking the largest stakes.
- The Chinese AI startup’s V4-Flash model has been cited as the main driver of investor interest; Deepseek plans to restructure toward an IPO in early 2027, is building a data center with at least 160,000 Huawei AI chips, and is developing its own inference chip after briefly pausing the round following founder Liang Wenfeng’s viral comments about Nvidia reliance.
- A massive financing led by major industrial and internet investors would validate Deepseek’s V4-Flash performance against rivals, accelerate its IPO timetable, and affect AI model competition and hardware supply strategies.
WHY IT MATTERS
A massive financing led by major industrial and internet investors would validate Deepseek’s V4-Flash performance against rivals, accelerate its IPO timetable, and affect AI model competition and hardware supply strategies.