Former Hillhouse Ventures partner Yan Wentao assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer at DeepSeek on September 21. The appointment fills a vacancy that existed for the 3 years following the company's inception and comes as the AI lab concludes its 2nd round of financing. Reports indicate the firm is preparing for an initial public offering on the STAR Market to build a corporate financial and governance system.

Yan is 35 years old and formerly held positions at Tencent Investment and H Capital. He previously invested in AI firms MiniMax and Zhipu AI, as well as ByteDance. DeepSeek has maintained high security for its recent fundraising efforts, requiring investors to leave phones and bags at its Beijing or Hangzhou offices while CEO Liang Wenfeng participated in meetings remotely.