TuPai Medical Secures RMB 500 Million Series E Funding Within a Year of Series D, Files for STAR Market IPO

Investment Circle (ID: pedaily2012) March 12th news: Recently, TowardPi Medical completedSocial Security Fund Zhongguancun Independent Innovation Special Fund (managed by Legend Capital), Beijing Robotics Industry Investment Fund, Qiming Venture PartnersThe total scale of co-investment reachedRMB 500 million Series E financingThis is the company's second round of financing favored by top investment institutions within a year, following the completion of its Series D round in June 2024. It also represents the highest single-round funding amount in the history of disclosed private market financing events in China’s ophthalmic medical device sector. The proceeds will continue to be used for TowardPi to expand its product portfolio and strengthen its global market presence.

TowardPi, a leading Chinese ophthalmic enterprise hailed by the internationally renowned research institution Frost & Sullivan as "the representative brand of full-category domestically produced ophthalmic diagnostic and therapeutic equipment," will aim to become the "first stock" in the ophthalmic medical device sector on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board after completing this Series E round of financing.

TowardPi Medical originated from the technology transfer of research results at the Department of Electronic Engineering of Tsinghua University. The company's founder, Professor Li Huo of Tsinghua University, began conducting research on swept-source OCT during his postdoctoral studies at Johns Hopkins University in 2008 under the guidance of Professor Xingde Li, who is a student of Professor James G. Fujimoto, the inventor of OCT. With support from several scientific research projects, including the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Professor Huo led his team to achieve breakthroughs and indigenization in a series of key underlying technologies.

TowardPi (full name: TowardPi (Beijing) Medical Technology Co., Ltd.) was founded in 2017. As a key project of Tsinghua University's scientific and technological achievements transformation, the company was jointly established by faculty, students, and alumni from various disciplines of Tsinghua University and incubated by Beijing Tsinghua Industrial Research Institute. The company’s headquarters is located in Changping District, Beijing, with industry-university-research layouts in Shanghai, Suzhou, Tianjin, and other places. TowardPi has a total workforce of 400 employees, over 100 of whom are R&D personnel, with cumulative investments nearing 800 million yuan, making it one of the largest ophthalmic medical device enterprises in China.

The company currently has four commercial high-end equipment production lines: ophthalmic OCT, ophthalmic surgical microscopes, ultra-widefield fundus cameras, and optical biometers. The phacoemulsification and vitrectomy integrated machine, as well as the femtosecond laser products, are still in the research and development process. To date, TowardPi is one of the very few "full-platform" high-end ophthalmic instrument suppliers in China and even globally that can compete on an equal footing with Zeiss and Alcon across the entire product line.

On January 16, 2024, the International Intelligent Medical Engineering Innovation Center was established at TowardPi's Beijing headquarters. The center, jointly established by the China Association of Medical Equipment, Beijing Tsinghua Industrial Development Research Institute, Changping Park of Zhongguancun Science Park, TowardPi, and China Eye Valley, is currently working on the transformation of innovative technologies in multiple disciplines such as neurosurgery, cardiovascular, and gastroenterology. It is believed that more medical engineering innovation achievements will be born here in the near future.

TowardPi (Beijing) Medical Technology Co.,Ltd Co-Founder and CEO, Wang YingqiTowardPi Medical stated that it will continue to adhere to the innovative model of medical-engineering transformation. Through TowardPi's robust research platform, the company aims to develop more original high-end medical equipment to benefit a wide range of patients. The company will also accelerate its international expansion, promote international cooperation, and achieve its global development strategy as soon as possible.

Wang Jianfei, Managing Director of Legend CapitalWe have always believed in the independent innovation and technological breakthroughs of China's high-end medical equipment. TowardPi, as a representative enterprise of China's independent innovation in high-end ophthalmic medical equipment, has achieved global leadership in the performance of ophthalmic OCT products based on the profound accumulation of Tsinghua University's research team, completing the full product line layout of high-end ophthalmic diagnosis and treatment equipment. On the other hand, through the self-research and optimization of core underlying components, it has promoted the progress of China's medical optoelectronic industry. Meanwhile, TowardPi's products, with their globally leading performance, have been sold overseas, becoming a typical representative of the upgrading of China's intelligent manufacturing industry in the field of high-end medical equipment. The Social Security Fund Zhongguancun Independent Innovation Special Fund will continue to support TowardPi in expanding its high-end ophthalmic treatment product lines and other departments, as well as continuously breaking through and optimizing the underlying core technologies. We look forward to TowardPi pushing the independent innovation of China's high-end medical equipment to new heights.

Zhu Fangwen, Managing Partner of Prime CapitalRepresentation: The Beijing Robotics Industry Fund is based on Beijing's industrial strategic layout, showing strong confidence in TowardPi’s leading technological innovation and platform capabilities in the high-end ophthalmic equipment field. It also has high expectations for the overseas opportunities of China’s outstanding medical device products. TowardPi’s ophthalmic OCT products surpass overseas giants with their deep technical foundation and superior performance, while the product line is expanding into the therapeutic field. At the same time, as a fundamental visual technology, OCT has broad application scenarios in robotics fields such as medical treatment and industrial inspection. We firmly believe that digital intelligence is the only way to improve the efficiency and quality of medical services. Technologies like robotics and AI have significant empowering potential. The Robotics Fund will continue to support the intelligent upgrading of TowardPi’s products, as well as the expansion of application scenarios and overseas markets. We will accompany the company as it grows stronger and look forward to seeing high-end medical devices made in China benefit more patients not only in China but also globally.

Mao Shuo, Executive Director of Qiming Venture PartnersStated: "We are highly honored to collaborate with the TowardPi team this time. The company has rapidly broken through the competition from numerous foreign brands in the high-end ophthalmic equipment sector. Moreover, over the past year, the company has continuously promoted the development and launch of new products as well as the international expansion of its products. We look forward to the company achieving more milestones in the future and building a global TowardPi brand."