DeepSeek eyes $1.5B raise at $71B valuation ahead of China IPO

Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek is reportedly in preliminary talks with new investors for a fresh funding round of roughly US$1.5 billion at an estimated US$71 billion pre-money valuation, according to multiple reports citing the Financial Times and Bloomberg. The prospective raise would follow DeepSeek’s first-ever external financing completed in late May and mid-June 2026, when the company secured about US$7–7.4 billion at a valuation in the US$50–52 billion range, backed by Tencent, CATL, JD.com, NetEase, and China’s National AI Industry Investment Fund, among other investors. A US$1.5 billion round at the targeted valuation would lift DeepSeek’s total external capital to around US$8.5–9 billion in under two months and mark a valuation step-up of roughly 37–42% over the prior round.

The funding talks are taking place as DeepSeek prepares for a mainland China initial public offering, with a filing targeted as soon as late 2026 or early 2027 and a planned public debut in 2027. Reports indicate the company is working with accounting and banking advisers to finalize financial statements by the end of 2026, a prerequisite for submitting its IPO application on a Chinese exchange. While investors in the new round have not been confirmed, prior backers such as Tencent and the National AI Industry Investment Fund are already on the cap table from the record first financing. The new raise, structured as a private round at a US$71 billion pre-money valuation, would further cement DeepSeek’s position among the highest-valued AI startups globally and set the stage for one of the largest pure-play AI listings to date once its planned mainland China IPO proceeds.