Pingfanghe Secures Hundreds of Millions in Series B Funding to Empower Medical Device and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing with Intelligent Solutions

VCBeat learned第一时间 that Sigma Squares (Beijing) Tech Co., Ltd. ("Sigma Squares") announced the completion of a multi-million-dollar B-round financing. This round of financing was led byShenzhen CO-WIN Venture CAPITAL Investmen LimitedLead investment,Yuanxiao Huachuang (Suzhou) Investment Management Co., Ltd., Beijing Alwin Asset Management, Ltd., Cloud Bay Capital Management Co.,Ltd,QianHai ShenZhen, Xiangcheng Jinkong Capital, Shanghai Entropy Asset Management Co., Ltd.AndBoxing CapitalFollow-up Investment.

Sigma Squares is committed to intelligent solutions for computer vision systems, providing full-stack visual services for manufacturing enterprises, including optical imaging system design, custom visual algorithms, custom visual equipment development, and integration of visual and production data. It is the first company in China to propose the concept of industrial cloud vision.

The company's headquarters is located in Beijing, with branches in Chengdu, Sichuan, and Dongguan, Guangdong.Southampton, UKIt has a research and development center, an intelligent manufacturing center, and a sales center.After this round of financing, Sigma Squares will establish an Eastern China Center in Suzhou to further expand the research, development, and production of intelligent manufacturing systems for more medical devices and consumables.

Sigma Squares UK R&D Center

The company's founding team and advisory team are composed of senior scientists and engineers from the industry both in China and abroad, and more than 50% of the company's employees hold a master's or doctoral degree in a related field.Founder and CEO Dr. Zhonglun CaiWith more than ten years of research and development experience in British universities, research centers, and world-leading industrial manufacturing enterprises, mastering the latest technologies in computer vision, intelligent learning control, and machine learning algorithms. Possesses extensive R&D experience in the design of industrial vision and intelligent automation systems, including optical design, imaging, automation interfaces and integration, various bus systems, and network communications.

Since its establishment in March 2018, Sigma Squares has been successively selected as a "Bud Enterprise" in Haidian District of Beijing, a "Golden Seed Enterprise" in Zhongguan Village, a "Demonstration Unit for Scientific and Technological Innovation in High-Quality Development in China," and one of the TOP50 "Gazelle Enterprises with High Technology and High Growth in Digital China 2021." The company owns more than a hundred intellectual property rights around its core products and is recognized as a National High-Tech Enterprise and a Zhongguan Village High-Tech Enterprise. In 2023 and 2024, it was respectively included in the list of "Specialized, Precise, Unique, and Innovative Small and Medium Enterprises in Beijing" and the national list of "Little Giant Enterprises."

At present, the company's products and services are mainly applied inHigh-End Medical Devices and Pharmaceutical Industry, and can also extend toSemiconductors, 3C, New EnergyAnd other industries.

Notably, Sigma Squares is a leader in the inspection of ophthalmic medical devices, particularly contact lenses, possessing world-leading products and technologies in this niche field. In 2023, Sigma Squares was the first in the Asian region to launch a fully intelligent contact lens production line, achieving the industry's first seamless transition from traditional manufacturing to intelligent manufacturing. Currently, the company’s technologies and products serve several renowned contact lens manufacturers in Europe and Asia.

After years of accumulation, the company now ownsSirius software suite (enterprise-level cloud vision software suite), Insvis product series (transparent material product inspection), Pharmvis product series (large-scale pharmaceutical production inspection system), Tipvis product series (high-performance touch control inspection platform), Medivis product series (medical consumables production inspection system)Five major product pipelines.

Among them, the core product line Insvis takes defect detection for transparent and flexible materials as the entry point and core technology, providing an integrated intelligent manufacturing platform for production, inspection, and industrial data collection and feedback. Since its establishment, Sigma Squares has heavily invested in R&D for high-difficulty and highly complex visual inspection scenarios, from inspection modules to standalone inspection equipment, and later to the implementation of intelligent production lines integrating production and inspection.

Compared with traditional automation and equipment manufacturers, Sigma Squares has perfectly integrated industrial and automation equipment with its self-developed intelligent software platform Sirius MPC. By combining production manufacturing with machine vision inspection data, it provides a complete closed-loop production data system, realizing an overall production solution that is digital, networked, and intelligent, offering customers tangible value enhancement.

In addition, the Pharmvis product line of Sigma Squares has launched a variety of high-end testing equipment and products for solid and liquid testing in the pharmaceutical industry. Flagship products include 360-degree all-around visual inspection equipment for tablets, capsules, and soft capsules, as well as packaging inspection equipment for various blister packs, medicine bottles, and more. It can serve various enterprises in pharmaceutical production and manufacturing, providing assistance for their intelligent manufacturing transformation, cost reduction, and efficiency improvement.

The company has now established partnerships with leading pharmaceutical enterprises both in China and abroad, including Sinopharm Group, CR Pharmaceutical, CSPC Pharmaceutical Group, Weigao Group, Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group, Novartis, and Daiichi Sankyo.

For this round of financing,Sigma Squares Founder Cai ZhonglunSigma Squares: Since its establishment, it has consistently adhered to the mission of "helping manufacturing enterprises foresee the future of intelligent manufacturing."”This mission has continuously strived to cultivate specialized fields, persisting in ongoing research and development in optical imaging, visual algorithms, mechanical and electrical systems, industrial data, and artificial intelligence (AI). It has successfully integrated multiple interdisciplinary fields. In the ophthalmic optometry consumables industry, it achieved the first-of-its-kind innovation in Asia by launching a revolutionary comprehensive intelligent manufacturing solution. This achievement would not have been possible without the long-term support from capital partners, the relentless efforts of the team, and the opportunities and trust given by customers. Sigma Squares is expected to continue its rapid development within the medical and pharmaceutical industries and promote this concept of intelligent manufacturing to more manufacturing sectors. It will provide greater value toward the continuous upgrading and development of "Made in China."

Ding Baoyu, Managing Partner of Shenzhen CO-WIN Venture CAPITAL Investment LimitedSigma Squares: Possesses visual inspection technology, key automation technologies, and industrial software technologies simultaneously. Achieves the perfect integration of visual inspection systems with automation equipment, realizing large-scale implementation with significant results. Ensures real-time recording, storage, and presentation of production data, providing closed-loop feedback for production optimization and process improvement, helping manufacturing enterprises achieve true intelligent upgrades. Particularly in the niche field of contact lenses, Sigma Squares already holds world-leading products and technologies.

The senior executives and R&D personnel of the company have accumulated experience from leading enterprises and research institutions abroad. They keep track of the cutting-edge technological trends in the industry while also combining them with domestic market demands in China, transforming innovative technological achievements into market competitiveness. This allows Sigma Squares to maintain its leading edge in industrial intelligent manufacturing. We look forward to the transfer and replication of the company's core capabilities in the pharmaceuticals and medical device fields. We believe that, with the support of capital, Sigma Squares will create greater social and commercial value, helping manufacturing customers envision a promising future for intelligent manufacturing!

Yin Botao, Partner of Yuanxiao Huachuang (Suzhou) Investment Management Co., Ltd.Driven by the dual forces of increasing intrinsic demand and policy support, the transparent material (healthcare) sector, represented by contact lenses, has significantly accelerated the intelligent transformation of its upstream manufacturing processes and the expansion of production lines. With its strong foundation in intelligent software algorithms and deep understanding of transparent material technology, the Sigma Squares team has become the TOP1 provider in the field of intelligent equipment and smart production lines for the contact lens industry. Meanwhile, its self-developed AOI inspection equipment for the solid pharmaceuticals sector has entered mass production and shipment, with deep cooperation established with leading domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing enterprises. The company’s technologically advanced softgel capsule AOI inspection equipment will also be launched soon. As the contact lens market rapidly expands and shifts toward China-based production, alongside increasingly stringent medical testing standards, we look forward to the company becoming a leader in intelligent engineering for contact lenses and in the field of medical testing equipment.

Project Leader of Yawen Investment, Jia ZhonggangSigma Squares, with machine vision at its core, provides intelligent production lines and single-machine inspection equipment to medical and pharmaceutical companies. Its competitive advantage is particularly prominent in the field of contact lenses, meeting the urgent demand of Chinese manufacturers for fully automated production lines. We look forward to the company leveraging its current strengths in the contact lens sector to quickly expand into pharmaceuticals and other medical fields, achieving multi-curve growth and injecting vitality into the intelligent upgrading of China's medical industry.

Zhu Feng, Co-Founding Partner of Cloud Bay CapitalRepresentation: Sigma Squares is a representative case of continuous additional investment and ongoing empowerment by Cloud Bay Capital. We remain optimistic about the company, partly due to the strong capabilities of the Sigma Squares team and their rare historical performance achievements; on the other hand, we look forward to the replication prospects of the company’s intelligent production line business expanding from contact lenses into new areas such as life sciences and broader health sectors. Additionally, we are willing to continue providing in-depth support to the team, working together to facilitate industrial transformation and upgrading.

Wei Da, Head of Xiangcheng Jinkong Mother FundChina's contact lens penetration rate is significantly lower than that of Japan and South Korea. It is expected that China's contact lens penetration rate will accelerate in the future. Sigma Squares, as a leader in the inspection of ophthalmic medical devices (especially contact lenses), possesses world-leading products and technologies in this niche field. In 2023, it launched the first fully automated intelligent contact lens production line in Asia. Xiangcheng Jinkong is very optimistic about the future development of Sigma Squares. Investing in Sigma Squares is also one of Xiangcheng Jinkong's key initiatives to support the "3+3+X" industrial system and key industrial chains in Xiangcheng District, while focusing on the intelligent manufacturing track and promoting the establishment of an intelligent manufacturing industrial chain in Xiangcheng District.

Chen Lei, Partner of Beijing Qiwo Boxing Management Consulting Co., Ltd.Ophthalmology is a market with great potential and has always been a key focus of Boxing Capital. Quality inspection is a crucial rate-limiting step in the production of colored contact lenses, with very strong market demand. Sigma Squares has taken visual inspection of colored contact lenses as an entry point to provide visual inspection equipment and services for transparent materials in the medical field. We are optimistic about the development potential of visual inspection in the medical direction and also have high expectations for the future of Sigma Squares. With this additional investment, we will continue to support the company's growth and inject new vitality into the industrial upgrade of China's medical industry.

Shenzhen CO-WIN Venture CAPITAL Investment Limited was founded on June 26, 2000, as one of the first professional venture capital institutions in China. On July 15, 2015, it successfully listed on the NEEQ (Stock Code: 832793), becoming one of the first well-known venture capital institutions to be listed on the NEEQ in China. The company has 24 years of investment management experience, managing assets exceeding 35 billion RMB, and has successively invested in over 700 enterprises. Among them, 120 companies have successfully gone public, including 26 companies listed on the STAR Market. With consistently excellent returns, it has become a leading professional investment institution in China. CO-WIN Venture CAPITAL focuses on industrial chain investments, concentrating on emerging industries, specializing in advanced technology, healthcare, and the digital economy. It has accumulated extensive experience in investing in core technologies and cutting-edge fields, employing prudent investment strategies to deeply uncover hidden champions, support innovation and entrepreneurship, and fully serve the real economy.

Yuanxiao Huachuang focuses on investments in the field of integrated circuits and other泛hard-tech areas. It currently manages over 15 billion yuan in cumulative funds, has invested in more than 200 projects, nurtured over 40 listed companies, and helped its invested enterprises grow into globally leading companies in the hard-tech sector.

Alwin Capital is a professional investment fund focused on the frontier fields of life sciences. The founding team of the company has been deeply involved in China's pharmaceuticals industry for two decades, with both industrial and financial backgrounds, possessing extensive investment research experience. In recent years, based on professional research and guided by scientific disciplines, adhering to a comprehensive investment research system and mature portfolio management, Alwin Capital has systematically laid out investments in China’s cutting-edge life sciences sector. It has nurtured several key leading companies in areas such as gene editing, nucleic acid drugs, cell therapy, and molecular diagnostics. At the same time, within the intersection of innovative technology and life sciences, it has invested in multiple high-profile projects with keen investment judgment.

Cloud Bay Capital (V Fund) is a private equity investment management company established in 2015, focusing on industrial technology sectors including new energy vehicles, intelligent manufacturing, semiconductors, and industrial digitalization. Cloud Bay Capital is committed to becoming the capital enabler for China's industrial technology industry chain, accelerating its presence across core fields and discovering and empowering outstanding enterprises. Since its inception, it has invested in numerous leading companies within niche markets, including but not limited to CATL, Farasis Energy, Ronbay Technology, SoftServe Power, Huibo Cloud, Hunan SinoFarsoon High-tech, Chem-Max Technology, VDL Electronics, Horizon Robotics, and BiRen Tech.

Xiangcheng Financial Holding Group is a comprehensive financial holding platform established by the Xiangcheng District Committee and Government of Suzhou City to integrate the district's financial resources. It builds a financial service system featuring "equity-debt linkage and industry-finance integration," creating a new ecosystem of industry-finance integration that combines "industry + technology + finance + talent" to vigorously cultivate new momentum for industrial transformation and upgrading. The group adheres to and practices the concepts of value investing and long-term investing, striving to be long-term capital and patient capital, providing full lifecycle financial support and services to outstanding technology innovation enterprises.

Shanghai Entropy Asset Management Co., Ltd. mainly invests in early and mid-stage private equity projects, focusing on two fields: chips/artificial intelligence and biomedicine/healthcare.

Boxing Capital is a venture capital firm focused on early-stage healthcare investments, founded by partners with extensive experience in the medical industry. Currently managing over 2 billion RMB in funds, it has strategically invested in more than 40 innovative medical device and healthcare service companies with significant market potential. Many of these companies have grown into leaders in their respective niche markets, and several projects have successfully achieved profitable exits. The investors behind Boxing Capital include top-tier domestic fund-of-funds, healthcare industry entrepreneurs, and seasoned investors. With in-depth industry research, clear investment logic, and comprehensive post-investment management capabilities, Boxing Capital has gained continuous support from its investors, earned long-term respect from entrepreneurs, and remains committed to being a long-term partner for top-tier investors and entrepreneurs in China.