Physix FrontierDeepSeek Nears Completion of $7B First Funding Round Led by Tencent and CATL
Summary in One Sentence
Chinese AI rising star DeepSeek is finalizing its first-ever external funding round—a massive 50 billion RMB (~$7.4 billion USD), with a post-money valuation reaching up to $59 billion.
Funding Details
- Round: First round (previously operated entirely with founder Liang Wenfeng's personal funds)
- Size: 50 billion RMB (~$7.4 billion USD)
- Valuation: Up to $59 billion
- Lead Investors: Tencent, CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited), National AI Fund
- Founder's Personal Contribution: Liang Wenfeng added $3 billion personally to ensure the strategy of prioritizing research and open source remains unaffected by short-term profit pressures.
Why It Matters
This is the largest single funding round in China's AI industry to date and DeepSeek's first external financing. Previously, DeepSeek relied entirely on self-funded capital from High-Flyer Quant, training models comparable to GPT-4 level at extremely low cost, shaking Silicon Valley.
The joint entry of Tencent and CATL marks the first appearance of a cross-sector capital combination of "Internet Giant + New Energy Leader" in the large model track. The participation of the National AI Fund signals clear policy support for the open-source large model route.
Industry Impact
- Capital Endorsement for Open Source Route: DeepSeek sticks to its open-source strategy and will increase investment in open source after funding, forming a dual-core open-source landscape with Meta Llama across East and West.
- Compute Demand Signal: CATL's involvement hints at heating up the "AI + Energy" intersection; power demand for compute centers is becoming a new investment theme.
- Valuation Anchor: The $59 billion valuation sets a new pricing benchmark for domestic large model companies.
Source: TechShots / Bloomberg / 36Kr | 2026-08-06