DeepSeek's $15 billion funding round: Bloomberg and Reuters report the 100 billion yuan raise, days after the US federal ban was made public

DeepSeek's $15 billion funding round has been raised, Bloomberg reported on October 22, 2026. The Chinese maker of open-weight models brought in about 100 billion yuan, with battery maker CATL and Tencent among the largest investors, according to Bloomberg's sources. Reuters, citing four people with knowledge of the matter, reported the same day that the round was set to complete "in the coming days" at a valuation of about 500 billion yuan before the new money. This is the round 9to5AI reported on October 16, when it was still described as close to completion. DeepSeek hasn't confirmed it.

This story is based on Reuters' October 22 report (via Central Oregon Daily and KSL), an earlier version of the same Reuters wire that credits Bloomberg with the first report (via WHBL), Investing.com's summary of Bloomberg's report, TechCrunch's October 22 report, and the Federal Register notice of the DHS order, checked October 23, 2026. Bloomberg's own article was not readable and is cited through those relays.

The short version

• Amount (reported): about 100 billion yuan, or $14.98 billion at Reuters' rate of 6.6749 yuan to the dollar.
• Valuation (reported): about 500 billion yuan pre-money, roughly $74.9 billion, per Reuters' sources. Bloomberg's report, as relayed, gave no valuation.
• Investors (reported): CATL and Tencent lead; Reuters names GigaDevice, Meituan, Geely, Midea, NetEase, Boyu Capital, CPE, Legend Capital and IDG Capital, and one source put the total at more than 15.
• Status: Bloomberg says the money has been raised; Reuters says completion was expected "in the coming days" and details "could still change." As of October 23, 2026, no follow-up report or DeepSeek announcement had confirmed completion.
• Confirmation: none from DeepSeek, which couldn't be reached by Reuters and didn't respond to TechCrunch.

Is this the same round 9to5AI reported in October?

Yes, by every detail the reports give. Our October 16 story described a second round that opened in July 2026 with a 50 billion yuan target, passed 80 billion yuan by October 6 and reached about 100 billion yuan in Caijing's October 13–14 report, at an unchanged 500 billion yuan pre-money valuation. Bloomberg's October 22 report describes the same path: a 50 billion yuan target, raised to 80 billion yuan, then about 100 billion yuan raised. Reuters' figures match too.

What has changed is the status. On October 16, no outlet had reported the round as done. On October 22, Bloomberg reported it as raised, and Reuters reported it as nearly complete.

How DeepSeek's second funding round was reported

1. Jul. 2026Round opens with a 50 billion yuan targetReutersReported
2. Oct. 6, 2026Commitments above 80 billion yuanBloomberg, ReutersReported
3. Oct. 13-14, 2026About 100 billion yuan at 500 billion yuan pre-moneyCaijingReported
4. Oct. 19, 2026DHS files notice of order excluding DeepSeek from civilian agenciesFederal RegisterConfirmed
5. Oct. 22, 2026About 100 billion yuan raisedBloombergReported
6. Oct. 22, 2026Round set to complete in the coming daysReutersReported

• Confirmed
• Reported

Who invested in DeepSeek's round?

Reuters, reporting from Hong Kong with bylines from Kane Wu, Yantoultra Ngui and Eduardo Baptista, gives the fullest list:

• Per four people: chipmaker GigaDevice, food-delivery company Meituan and automaker Geely invested.
• Per two people: CATL and Tencent, both existing shareholders, were among the biggest investors.
• Also participating: appliance maker Midea and NetEase, an existing shareholder.
• Per three people: Boyu Capital, CPE, Legend Capital and IDG Capital, an existing shareholder.

Geely declined to comment to Reuters; the other companies didn't immediately respond. Reuters' four-source report that GigaDevice invested is the clearest account, as of October 23, 2026, of a link our October 16 story found unclear, where earlier reports described it as indirect, through venture funds GigaDevice backs.

Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at Omdia, told Reuters that because the investors are Chinese and include key supply-chain vendors, DeepSeek could become a central part of domestic tech supply chains.

How much is DeepSeek worth?

Reuters' sources put the valuation at about 500 billion yuan before the new capital, or about $74.9 billion at Reuters' exchange rate. If the full 100 billion yuan comes in, the post-money valuation would be about 600 billion yuan, roughly $89.9 billion. That's 9to5AI's arithmetic from the reported figures, not a reported number.

For comparison, Reuters says filings by two Chinese investors in July implied a valuation of 350.88 billion yuan, about $52 billion, for DeepSeek's first external round in June, when it raised $7.4 billion. TechCrunch, citing WireScreen's analysis of corporate ownership data, reports that founder Liang Wenfeng holds an estimated 81.6% of the Chinese operating company.

What does the US ban have to do with it?

The timing, mostly. TechCrunch framed the raise as coming "days after US restrictions." On October 19, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security filed a Federal Register notice, published October 20, of an order excluding DeepSeek products from federal civilian agencies and requiring their removal. Our story on the DHS order explains what it covers. The order itself lists an original release date of July 24, 2026, so the restriction predates the round's final weeks; only its public notice came days before the funding reports.

None of the reports ties the round's size or terms to the US order. The order also doesn't restrict DeepSeek's open weights, which DeepSeek keeps publishing alongside tools such as its DeepInfer inference engine.

What's confirmed, reported and uncertain

• Confirmed: the DHS notice (filed October 19, published October 20, 2026) and the order's July 24 release date. Nothing about the round is confirmed by DeepSeek or its investors.
• Reported (Bloomberg, October 22): about 100 billion yuan raised; CATL and Tencent among the largest investors; a target raised from 50 billion to 80 billion yuan before the final amount.
• Reported (Reuters, October 22): completion expected within days; about 500 billion yuan pre-money; more than 15 investors, including the named companies above.
• Uncertain: the exact close date and final amount, each investor's stake, and whether a business-registry change for this round will confirm it. No outlet cited here has reported such a filing for this round.