# DeepSeek Nears an 80B-Yuan Round and Moonshot Closes at ~$50B as Both Line Up 2027 IPOs, Bloomberg Reports

Times of AI Desk · 2026-10-06 · Work

[https://timesof.ai/2026/10/deepseek-80b-yuan-moonshot-50b-pre-ipo-rounds](https://timesof.ai/2026/10/deepseek-80b-yuan-moonshot-50b-pre-ipo-rounds)

> Bloomberg reported on Oct. 6, citing unnamed people, that DeepSeek is close to securing at least 80 billion yuan (~$12 billion) in its latest round, with CATL and Tencent among the largest commitments, and that Moonshot AI has closed its final private round at about $50 billion ahead of a Hong Kong IPO targeted for Q1 2027. DeepSeek’s round has not closed; it had targeted a valuation of about 500 billion yuan. Every figure traces to Bloomberg, and none of the companies has confirmed.

China’s two most-watched model labs are taking their last private money before going public, on a similar early-2027 IPO timetable to each other. If Bloomberg’s figures hold, DeepSeek’s round alone is on the scale of a U.S. frontier-lab raise — and the biggest named commitments there are Chinese strategics, not U.S. venture funds.

**Bloomberg** reported on **October 6**, citing people familiar with the matter, that **DeepSeek** is close to securing **at least 80 billion yuan** (about **$11.93 billion** at Reuters’ conversion) in its latest funding round. Battery maker **CATL** and **Tencent** have committed among the largest amounts. Separately, Bloomberg reported that **Moonshot AI** has closed its final private round at a valuation of about **$50 billion** and is heading for a **Hong Kong IPO in the first quarter of 2027**. Every figure in this piece traces to that Bloomberg reporting. Reuters said it could not verify the DeepSeek report.

## DeepSeek: bigger than planned, not yet closed

Per Bloomberg’s report, syndicated by The Straits Times:

- DeepSeek **initially sought about 50 billion yuan**; demand outran that after its latest model release, and based on signed term sheets the final tally **could approach 100 billion yuan**.
- DeepSeek had **originally targeted a valuation of about 500 billion yuan**. Its previous 50-billion-yuan round valued it at roughly **350 billion yuan**. The final valuation for this round was not reported.
- Talks are near an end but **details may still change**. Once the round closes, the company is expected to **restructure ahead of an IPO** planned for early 2027. Reuters reported last month that DeepSeek had hired **CITIC Securities** to prepare a possible STAR Market listing.
- DeepSeek plans to deploy **at least 160,000 Huawei accelerators** at a data centre it is building in **Inner Mongolia**.

A CATL representative declined to comment and Tencent had no immediate comment. DeepSeek did not respond during China’s Golden Week holiday, so confirmation may lag.

## Moonshot: round closed, IPO clock running

Bloomberg says Moonshot has closed what it expects to be its last private round at about **$50 billion** and could hold early-look meetings with IPO investors **as soon as this month**. Seoul Economic Daily, summarising Bloomberg, adds that the IPO could raise **up to $5 billion**, that Moonshot’s previous valuation was **$31.5 billion**, and that its annual recurring revenue is expected to rise from about **$1 billion** to **$2 billion** by year-end. Those figures are secondhand and were not in the portion of Bloomberg’s story we could read.

This moves on the [Hong Kong listing plan Bloomberg reported in July](https://timesof.ai/2026/07/moonshot-ipo-hong-kong-six-months): that was a shareholder resolution, and this is a priced private round with a target quarter. It also lands a week after OpenAI [attributed a reasoning-extraction campaign to people associated with Moonshot](https://timesof.ai/2026/09/openai-moonshot-adversarial-distillation). Moonshot had not commented on that claim in the reporting we used, and it is not mentioned in the funding reports.

## How to read it

Both labs are aiming at early-2027 public markets on similar calendars to each other. For DeepSeek, a battery maker and a platform company writing the biggest named cheques suggests that round is as much industrial policy as venture bet; Moonshot’s investors were not named in the reporting we could read. The 160,000-chip Huawei cluster is the compute side of DeepSeek’s bet. All of it rests on one news organisation’s unnamed sources.

## Limits

- **One origin.** The Straits Times is Bloomberg syndication, and Reuters and Seoul Economic Daily summarise Bloomberg. They do not independently corroborate each other.
- DeepSeek’s round **has not closed**. The amount, investors and valuation can change, and the ~500-billion-yuan figure was a target, not a confirmed price.
- We could read only the opening of Bloomberg’s Moonshot story. The IPO size, prior valuation and ARR figures come via Seoul Economic Daily.
- Currency: the yuan figures are Bloomberg’s. The ~$12 billion conversion is Reuters’. Some outlets print the same 80 billion yuan as Singapore dollars.

## Sources

- [The Straits Times / Bloomberg: DeepSeek set to raise at least $15 billion (Singapore dollars) in Tencent-backed funding (October 6, 2026)](https://www.straitstimes.com/business/deepseek-set-to-raise-at-least-15-billion-in-tencent-backed-funding)
- [MarketScreener / Reuters: DeepSeek to raise at least $12 billion in Tencent-backed funding, Bloomberg News reports (October 6, 2026)](https://www.marketscreener.com/news/deepseek-to-raise-at-least-12-billion-in-tencent-backed-funding-bloomberg-news-reports-ce785dd8dc8ff223)
- [Bloomberg Law / Bloomberg News: Moonshot said to eye early 2027 IPO after value hits $50 billion (October 6, 2026)](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/capital-markets/moonshot-said-to-eye-early-2027-ipo-after-value-hits-50-billion)
- [Seoul Economic Daily: China’s two AI leaders near IPOs at $50B and 500B yuan valuations (October 6, 2026)](https://en.sedaily.com/international/2026/10/06/chinas-two-ai-leaders-near-ipos-at-50b-and-500b-yuan)
- [Times of AI: Moonshot’s Hong Kong IPO clock (July 19, 2026)](https://timesof.ai/2026/07/moonshot-ipo-hong-kong-six-months)
- [Times of AI: OpenAI attributes a reasoning-extraction cluster to Moonshot AI (September 30, 2026)](https://timesof.ai/2026/09/openai-moonshot-adversarial-distillation)