CITIC Securities Co LtdDeepSeek hired CITIC Securities to prepare for a possible STAR Market IPO, a mandate that benefits the brokerage.

DeepSeek plans to hire Yan Wentao, a partner at venture-capital firm GL Ventures, as its first chief financial officer, two people with knowledge of the matter said, as the Chinese AI startup prepares for a potential initial public offering. Reuters reported last week that Hangzhou-based DeepSeek had hired Chinese brokerage CITIC Securities to prepare for a possible listing on Shanghai's technology-focused STAR Market. The appointment of Yan, who has dealmaking experience, would be a significant step in DeepSeek's transformation from a research-focused lab bankrolled by its founder's hedge fund into a more conventional corporate structure. GL Ventures is the venture-capital arm of Hillhouse Investment, an investment firm founded by China-born investor Zhang Lei that focuses on sectors including technology, biotech, and consumer industries, and Hillhouse is not an investor in DeepSeek. DeepSeek is in an ongoing fundraising round that values it at about 500 billion yuan ($74 billion), Reuters reported in July, after raising about $7.4 billion in June at a post-money valuation of more than $50 billion.
CITIC Securities Co LtdDeepSeek hired CITIC Securities to prepare for a possible STAR Market IPO, a mandate that benefits the brokerage.
DeepSeek is hiring its first CFO and preparing for a potential IPO at a ~$74B valuation, advancing its corporate/financing transformation.
GL Ventures is mentioned only as the current employer of the CFO hire Yan Wentao, with no impact on the firm itself.