China AI company DeepSeek is considering expanding its latest funding round to as much as 100 billion yuan, or about 19.995 trillion won. That is about double its initial target of 50 billion yuan, or about 9.9975 trillion won.

CNBC reported on Oct. 6 that DeepSeek is seeing strong demand from state-backed funds, investment arms of Chinese listed companies and venture capital. It also said the company is excluding some private funds raised from individual money and is selecting investors mainly from government and corporate capital.

The talks are in their final stage, but the final amount has not been decided. Reuters reported DeepSeek is close to securing at least 80 billion yuan, or about 15.996 trillion won, and the final size could rise to 100 billion yuan. Tencent and battery maker CATL have been mentioned as key investors.

DeepSeek is seeking a valuation of about 500 billion yuan, or about 99.975 trillion won, in this round. It raised about 50 billion yuan in its first external fundraising that closed in June, and its valuation was assessed at about 350 billion yuan, or about 69.9825 trillion won, at the time. The first round used a limited partnership structure so founder Wenfeng Liang (梁文锋) could retain management control.

CATL, Geely Automobile, Monolith Management and Loyal Valley Capital are reported to have committed funds for the investment. The round had initially targeted a close by the end of August, but the schedule was delayed as some investors felt burdened by the high valuation.

DeepSeek moved in earnest to raise external funds this year after drawing global attention last year with low-cost AI models. Last month it unveiled V4.1 Flash, which it said improves inference speed and efficiency. The model lowers inference costs by activating only 8B parameters at the input stage and 16B at output.

The company is also preparing for an initial public offering. Reuters reported DeepSeek appointed CITIC Securities as lead underwriter for a listing on Shanghai's STAR Market. Rival Moonshot AI has also been seeking a Hong Kong listing in the first quarter of 2027 after it was recently valued at about $50 billion, or about 67 trillion won, intensifying fundraising competition among Chinese AI companies.