The CNY 100 million funding round will strengthen the company's capacity to analyze medical data and upgrade its online services.
Chinese online healthcare services are high in demand. Image Credit: Tumisu\Pixabay
Hangzhou-based healthcare service platform provider, Yuntai Network (芸泰网络), has announced completion of its Series B+ funding round, worth CNY 100 million (equivalent to USD 14 million). It was led by Beijing-based investment firm Zhongdian Health Industry Fund (中电健康产业基金投资).
Founded in 2015 by its CEO, Yuan Yu (袁羽), Yuntai provide one-stop online healthcare services to healthcare providers covering pre-, post-diagnosis, and daily health management.
The company owns a mobile app that is integrated into well-known Chinese mobile platforms such as Tencent WeChat and Alibaba Alipay. Through its mobile app, patient can make an appointment, request reports and consult with medical services provider. Other services include cloud computing and information processing which connects hospitals and pharmacies with their respective distributors by offering an "online-order-delivery" service.
If you take an up-close look at the China online healthcare sector, you might be dumbstruck by the capital flows in the industry. China is furnishing an ideal business environment for startups. They are growing on a "Speedlight" mode, and, with only a few years of existence, they may reach a milestone of billions of dollar valuation, known as a unicorn.
This remarkable event might be a significant milestone for Yuntai as the online healthcare service is in mass demand. For instance, in late June, four-year-old online healthcare provider Miaoshou Doctor (妙手医生) reached such a milestone, after completion of its Series C+ funding round, boosting its valuation to over USD 1 billion.
Massive capital flows in the healthcare industry are allowing these startups to enjoy rapid development of their products and commercialization. According to EqualOcean's analysis, up to July 2019, China had created eight unicorns in the healthcare industry. Among them four unicorns top the ten most valuable companies, including Pingan Tech (平安科技), United Imaging Healthcare (联影医疗), WeDoctor (微医) and Shanghai Henlius Biotech (复宏汉霖).
Many regions in China still suffer from healthcare service scarcity; hence, the internet and new technology are proving a crucial source for startups to mitigate these issues.