DeepSeek nears $7.4 billion funding led by Tencent

Investing.com -- DeepSeek is close to completing a 50 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) funding round from investors including Tencent Holdings Ltd. and the startup's founder, marking one of China's largest startup financings, according to a Bloomberg report Wednesday.

Tencent and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. are reportedly the two largest investors in the group that began signing term sheets this week. The state-backed National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund is also participating in the round.

External investors will contribute about 30 billion yuan at a valuation of around 350 billion yuan. Founder Liang Wenfeng personally invested approximately 20 billion yuan, adding to the startup's total fundraising.

Tencent, which develops the WeChat messaging service, secured the largest investment in DeepSeek at 10 billion yuan. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. participated in early discussions but did not invest.

DeepSeek's senior management told potential investors that the startup will focus on AI research over short-term commercialization. Liang pledged in at least one investor meeting to continue developing open-source AI models while pursuing artificial general intelligence.

The Hangzhou-based company gained recognition after releasing an AI model in 2025 that matched Silicon Valley capabilities at lower cost. Founded in 2023, DeepSeek is owned by Liang's hedge fund Zhejiang High-Flyer Asset Management.

The startup is now expanding into agentic AI following OpenClaw's emergence, focusing on software that can perform tasks without human intervention.

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