Dearer Medical Completes Series C Financing with Continued Support from Legend Capital, Files IPO Prospectus

VCBeat learned第一时间 that DEARER recently completed its Series C financing. The funds will be used for the research and development and expansion projects of Class III medical devices, colored contact lenses (referred to as "Cosmetic Lenses"), to meet the growing market demand. As an existing shareholder, Legend Capital continued to support the company’s development in this round of financing.

DEARER Group has established 10 subsidiaries, with DEARER Medical as the group's headquarters. After more than a decade of development, DEARER Group has become China's largest domestic R&D, design, and production enterprise for cosmetic contact lenses. DEARER Group has consistently focused on product innovation, continuously increasing investment in R&D innovations, including the development of cosmetic lens design processes, new material research, high-precision mold development, and automation equipment R&D. The group has achieved multiple research results, holding 11 invention patents such as internal surface coating and silicone hydrogel, 57 utility model patents, and 7 design patents. Currently, it holds a leading position in the industry in terms of comprehensive capabilities in the design and production of colored contact lenses.

Currently, the company holds 30 Class III medical device registration certificates, including 11 in China and 19 in South Korea, covering the full range of contact lens products such as daily disposables, monthly disposables, half-yearly disposables, and yearly disposables. In China, the company has 10 registration certificates for colored contact lenses (including one for silicone hydrogel daily disposable colored lenses) and one for regular contact lenses. Among the 19 Class III medical device registration certificates held in South Korea, three are for silicone hydrogel products, including registration certificates for daily disposable colored lenses, transparent lenses, and monthly disposable colored lenses.

DEARER Group holds the unique 7-color and pearl luster registration certificates in the industry, with a complete design, plate-making, ink research and development, and color printing system. It can provide customers with various excellent design solutions, lead the beauty contact lens fashion by leveraging its process advantages. DEARER Group combines the advantages of beauty contact lens design and daily disposable technology to produce daily disposable beauty contact lenses with the most novel patterns in the entire market, which are highly favored by consumers.

DEARER's customers are spread across major online and offline new retail channels for cosmetic contact lenses, earning recognition from well-known brand clients such as Bausch + Lomb and KELALA.

DEARER Group has the production capacity and qualifications for silicone hydrogel contact lenses. In 2023, DEARER Group obtained the first registration certificate in China for daily disposable silicone hydrogel color lenses. A new range of daily disposable silicone hydrogel color lenses featuring Korean-style patterns has entered mass production, filling the market gap for silicone hydrogel color lenses.

In China, DEARER is the first factory to master the full mold compression technology in the Korean-style craftsmanship sector. It is the only factory in China that independently handles everything from the design and R&D of molds to self-sufficiency in mold production. Relying on full mold compression technology, the company has achieved large-scale mass production of daily disposable products, increasing its monthly production capacity from millions of pieces to over 20 million pieces.

DEARER has production bases in Jilin, Xi'an, Shanghai, and South Korea. Currently, its products are in a state of high demand. The Phase III factory in Jilin was completed at the end of 2023 and is fully equipped with automated production lines, adding an annual capacity of over 200 million pieces. In the future, the company will continue to expand its production capacity, with an expected annual production capacity of over 1.5 billion pieces by 2028, striving to become the largest contact lens factory in Asia.

Zhou Quan, Managing Director of Legend Capital, stated: "The penetration rate of the domestic contact lens and cosmetic lens industry still has significant room for growth compared to countries like Europe, the U.S., Japan, and South Korea. Consumers' demands for comfort and a wider variety of cosmetic lens styles are also continuously increasing. In recent years, the shortening of cosmetic lens replacement cycles and the diversification of marketing channels have led to a sustained high growth in downstream demand, resulting in a long-term shortage of high-quality upstream production capacity. DEARER, as the cosmetic lens manufacturer with the most comprehensive product lineup and the strongest design and craftsmanship capabilities, has been committed to continuously improving its processes and expanding its production capacity over the years. It has become a supplier to many leading cosmetic lens brands, consistently delivering higher quality products and services to the market. We are optimistic about DEARER's long-term development and have therefore continued to significantly increase our investment in this round."