DeepSeek's IPO preparations have accelerated with the September 2026 appointment of CITIC Securities to advise on a Shanghai STAR Market listing and the late-September hiring of its first CFO, Yan Wentao, signaling a shift from planning to execution. The company is finalizing a large pre-IPO funding round that could reach $12–15 billion at a roughly $75 billion valuation, backed by Tencent and CATL, to fund compute infrastructure, model development, and talent retention amid competition from U.S. and Chinese AI labs. Recent releases such as the V4.1 Flash large language model have sustained investor interest and revenue growth, with annualized run rates reportedly doubling toward $1 billion. The firm aims to begin formal filing processes before year-end 2026 for a potential early-2027 debut, though timelines remain subject to regulatory review, audited financials, and market conditions, with peers like Moonshot AI pursuing similar schedules.