DeepSeek Reportedly Prepares STAR Market IPO as Hillhouse Partner May Join as CFO

DeepSeek has begun preparations for a STAR Market initial public offering, and Citic Securities has started due diligence, though the two sides have not signed a formal listing advisory agreement. According to ChainCatcher, DeepSeek hopes to launch the IPO process this year. TOP Chinese Tech Innovation Community said Hillhouse Ventures partner Yan Wentao may join DeepSeek as chief financial officer and is expected to take up the role soon. Yan, a post-1990s partner at Hillhouse Ventures, has long focused on technology investments, with public investments including ByteDance, MiniMax, and Zhipu AI. DeepSeek currently has no CFO and no formal investor relations team.