A RMB 105.5 Billion Second Round Lifts DeepSeek's State Share to 27%
According to The Information on October 30, 2026, DeepSeek's second round raised about RMB 105.5 billion, roughly US$15.8 billion, with nearly 30 investors participating and an implied valuation of about RMB 615.5 billion.
- 01THE TARGET — The second round's starting target was about RMB 50 billion.
- 02THE DOUBLE — Chip price rises and bubble concerns pushed the target to double midway.
- 03THE CLOSE — Disclosed on October 30, 2026, at about RMB 105.5 billion.
WHAT HAPPENEDWhat Happened
This round started at only about RMB 50 billion and doubled midway. People familiar with the matter attributed the increase to the continued rise in prices for Nvidia's high-end chips and to concerns about an AI industry bubble; the company wanted to stockpile ample ammunition in advance. Tencent and CATL remain the two largest investors: Tencent put in RMB 10 billion in each of the two rounds, and CATL together with its chairman contributed about RMB 15 billion across the two rounds.
The list of industrial capital is long. ChangXin Memory, SMIC, vivo, Meituan, Geely, Midea, Luxshare Precision, Trip.com and Xiaohongshu are all in it, with individual contributions mostly between RMB 1 billion and RMB 3 billion. Chips, automakers, handset makers and internet platforms appearing on the same cap table at once means this financing signifies more than money.
The change in the state-owned share deserves separate attention. State capital accounted for about 2% in the first round and rose to about 27% in the second. The National AI Industry Investment Fund invested another RMB 1 billion this round, flat with the first round, while institutions such as China Mobile, China Telecom, CICC, CITIC Securities and China Life contributed individually between RMB 2 billion and RMB 8 billion.
WHY DOUBLE MID-RAISEThe Reason for Doubling Is Written in Chip Prices
Prices for Nvidia's high-end chips in China keep rising, and compute cost has become the first variable in financing scale. By doubling the target midway, the company effectively acknowledged that the original plan no longer covered the future compute bill.
The other half of the reason is bubble concern. Raising more money before market sentiment turns is a common defensive move by founders. When the money lands matters more than the valuation figure.
A SUPPLY CHAIN ON THE CAP TABLEThe Cap Table Becomes a Supply-Chain Map
SMIC and ChangXin Memory represent chip manufacturing, Geely represents automakers, vivo represents handsets, and Meituan and Trip.com represent application scenarios. Shareholders are simultaneously potential customers and potential partners, so the financing also completed an industrial-chain alliance.
The cost of this structure is higher governance complexity. The more shareholders there are, the higher the coordination cost of strategic disagreements, and the founder's control arrangements will become a question the next round must answer.
READ THE 27 PERCENT CAREFULLYRead the Rising State Share With Room for Doubt
The 27% figure comes from media-cited disclosures, not an official DeepSeek announcement. Reports also describe the valuation basis inconsistently, some on a post-money basis and some pre-money.
State participation does not in itself mean the government directly directs operations. Industrial funds participating in AI financings is already a common pattern in China; what matters is the actual arrangement of voting rights and board seats, and those details have not been made public.
THE SHIFTWhat Changed
SIGNAL JUDGMENT — ANALYSISThis Round Buys Compute Time, Not Valuation Vanity
Tokenta Signal's judgment is unchanged: the real meaning of RMB 105.5 billion is that DeepSeek is locking in the next two years of compute bills in advance, and the changes in the cap table deserve longer tracking than the valuation figure.
WHAT REMAINS UNCERTAINWhat Remains Uncertain
EVIDENCEEvidence
Key points confirmed from the original report: The Information disclosed DeepSeek's second round at about RMB 105.5 billion, with nearly 30 investors and a valuation of about RMB 615.5 billion; Tencent invested RMB 10 billion in each round; the state-owned share is about 27%.
PRIMARY SOURCESPrimary Sources
- PANews: Details of DeepSeek's 105.5 Billion Yuan Funding Round Revealed
https://www.panews.io/articles/01a18bb5-6a9a-7684-979c-d78026298ba4 - Dealroom: Behind DeepSeek's $16 Billion Funding
https://dealroom.co/news/info-r9usms-behind-deepseeks-16-billion-funding-chinese-tech-titans-and-state-player/
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