DeepSeek's IPO on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board (STAR Market) is accelerating, and CITIC Securities is likely to act as the listing tutoring institution.

Liang Wenfeng, founder of DeepSeek. The image is processed by AI

On September 9, foreign media disclosed that Hangzhou-based artificial intelligence enterprise DeepSeek has selected CITIC Securities to fully prepare for matters related to its listing on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board. According to two insiders, the company is expected to officially submit its IPO application materials within this year, kicking off the key process of capitalization. Foreign media previously reported that after the completion of DeepSeek's new round of financing, its overall valuation will rise to 75 billion US dollars.

Tencent Tech learned from multiple sources close to the company's capital market operation team that the company's latest current valuation is 500 billion RMB.

Insiders told Tencent Tech that DeepSeek had previously pushed forward the preparation work for listing on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board, and has contacted a number of leading brokerages including CITIC Securities for cooperation related to listing tutoring.

Tencent Tech contacted CITIC Securities for verification on the listing preparation information, and the relevant party said there is no comment for the time being.

A capital market industry insider analyzed to Tencent Tech that based on DeepSeek's current valuation of 500 billion yuan, after the company is listed, its overall market value is expected to range between 1.5 trillion yuan and 2.5 trillion yuan.

According to previous media reports, in the first seven months of 2026, the company's revenue reached 475 million yuan, which is a tenfold increase compared with the full-year revenue of 2025, and its commercialization implementation speed continues to accelerate. However, the company still recorded a net loss of 715 million yuan in the same period.

In April 2026, DeepSeek launched its first round of financing, and completed the formal settlement in June, raising more than 500 billion yuan with a valuation of 50 billion US dollars. In mid-July 2026, it launched a new round of financing, and started the docking for IPO preparation at the same time.

It is reported that DeepSeek's new round of financing covers a number of industrial capitals and state-owned platforms. Among them, the new entrants include institutions such as SMIC PE, Boyu Capital, CPE Yuanfeng, Hefei State-owned Assets Investment Platform; old shareholders from the first round including Tencent, CATL, IDG Capital, Lisi Capital, Shixiang Capital, Zhenxin Fund Investment continue to increase their follow-on investment. In addition, the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, the only institution that made direct investment in the first round of financing, also plans to participate in this round of capital increase.

This round of financing has adjusted the company's equity structure and share lock-up period rules at the same time to adapt to the regulatory requirements for listing on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board. Except for the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, all other first-round investment institutions hold shares indirectly, and the corresponding share lock-up period is five years. To meet the listing application standards, the lock-up period for shares of newly introduced investors in this round is expected to be shortened to three years, and the equity structure will be further standardized.

On September 7, the company's Harness team publicly launched external recruitment, adding 150 new positions covering multiple core technical posts such as server-side development and Agent elastic computing R&D. Public information shows that DeepSeek currently has about 300 employees, and the number of new recruits in this expansion is equivalent to half of the existing team size.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Tencent Tech", Author: Gu Lingyu, published with authorization from 36Kr.