Lingyi Biologics Completes Nearly RMB 100 Million Series A Financing to Accelerate Gene Therapy Pipeline Development and Technology Platform Construction

VCBeat New Medicine learned that recently, Lingyi Biotech, a leading gene therapy company with a globally advanced animal model platform, announced the completion of nearly RMB 100 million in Series A financing. This round of financing was jointly led by EF Capital and Huafang Capital, with follow-on investments from Chuanghua Sci-Tech City Life Science Fund, Sequoia China, and Huaizi Capital. Haoyue Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this round.

Lingyi Biotech, founded in February 2021, is a leading gene therapy company with a globally advanced functional validation platform for animal models of monogenic inherited diseases. Committed to original innovation, the company focuses on disease areas such as metabolism, CNS, and ophthalmology. Lingyi Biotech boasts a world-class team in gene therapy discovery, development, and industrialization, addressing the challenge of the lack of effective animal models in monogenic inherited disease research. The company is dedicated to the R&D and industrialization of FIC gene therapy pipelines, leveraging genes to create value and improve human health.

Dr. Qing Lin, Founder of Lingyi BiotechExpressed: Deep gratitude to both new and existing shareholders for their recognition and support of Lingyi Biotech and the company’s team. Lingyi Biotech is an innovative enterprise that consistently aims to meet clinical needs and specializes in the gene therapy field. Lingyi Biotech possesses leading technical expertise, a strong scientific foundation, and a successful, experienced innovation team, with the goal of building an internationally leading disease model platform and developing differentiated gene therapy products. Our mission is to create value through genes, addressing clinical needs via gene therapy and driving industry development and innovation. After the completion of this round of financing, Lingyi Biotech will establish its headquarters at Qianwan Bioport in Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou, integrating resources to accelerate the development of the company's gene therapy pipeline and technological platform construction.

CEO of Yifeng Capital, Zhu PaiGene therapy, as one of the most promising research directions in the life sciences field, is regarded as a new starting point in medicine. AAV gene therapy has shown great potential in the treatment of many diseases. As a world-leading gene therapy company, Lingyi Biotech boasts a top-tier international R&D management team and a rich pipeline of gene therapies. Its core products are at the forefront in terms of global patent layout, clinical trial progress, and efficacy within China. In the future, EdgeFocus will connect more high-quality industry resources, strengthen cooperation, promote technology transformation, and enable Lingyi Biotech to better serve patients worldwide.

Wangqian Luo, Partner of Huafang CapitalWe are one of the earliest institutions in China to comprehensively layout in multiple subfields of cell and gene therapy, so we deeply understand that the immaturity of relevant animal models has become a bottleneck that urgently needs to be broken through in the development of such drugs. The founder of Lingyi Biotech is a leading figure in the development of animal models for genetic diseases, and the company is in an internationally leading position in the field of rare disease animal model research and development. We are very willing to support Lingyi Biotech to further deepen the core advantages of its animal model development technology platform, thereby not only promoting the successful advancement of its own differentiated pipeline but also contributing to the rapid development of the entire industry.

Chuanhua Sci-Tech City BioFund Managing Partner Xie EnweiRepresentation: Chuanhua Sci-Tech City focuses on the life sciences industry, building an international innovation community that gathers talent, technology, and capital around the biotechnology innovation chain and industrial chain. The core layout includes key development and application directions such as synthetic biology, gene and cell therapy, and medical devices. A fund cluster has been established to cover the full lifecycle capital needs of innovative enterprises, providing comprehensive post-investment support to invested companies. Among these, the Life Science Fund primarily invests in high-tech innovation projects, with CGT being a key focus area. In this field, Lingyi Biotech stands as a global leader in gene therapy. Its selection of indications not only addresses significant clinical needs with major technological breakthroughs but also offers a highly feasible path to industrialization. The company holds immense potential for societal contribution and market expansion. Chuanhua Sci-Tech City highly recognizes the capabilities of Dr. Lin Qing and the team, as well as Lingyi Biotech's development direction. We are delighted to co-invest with our ecosystem fund partners and facilitate the establishment of Lingyi Biotech’s future headquarters in Chuanhua Sci-Tech City. This move will strongly promote the company’s talent acquisition, further enhance the competitiveness of its technology platforms and product pipelines, and bring health benefits to patients worldwide at an earlier date.

CuiPing Gu, Managing Director of Sequoia ChinaWe are very pleased to support the development of Lingyi Biotech. Lingyi Biotech has built a highly competitive animal model platform for genetic diseases and successfully established a mature AAV production process with significant differentiation in indications. We believe that under the leadership of Dr. Lin Qing, the Lingyi Biotech team will make important contributions to the further development of China's gene therapy industry.

Sun Linghao, Managing Director of Matrix PartnersComment: As the company's first-round investor, over the past two years, we have witnessed the highly efficient execution and platform-building capabilities of the Lingyi team. With years of accumulated experience in preclinical development within the industry and proprietary novel production platforms, Dr. Lin’s team has established a world-leading and highly differentiated product pipeline. We look forward to the company reaching key milestones in the coming year and gradually becoming a leading R&D platform in the field of rare disease gene therapy, truly benefiting patients.

Yifeng Capital is one of the earliest professional investment institutions in China specializing in biomedicine. Its investment team consists of a group of biomedical Ph.D.s from top universities both domestically and internationally, focusing on global venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) investments in biomedicine. Yifeng Capital has deeply screened and invested in high-quality companies both within and outside of China, including MicroPort Biotech, Frontier Biotech, Ascentage Pharma, Pulnovo Medical, Hoyo Bio, Aida Pharmaceuticals, 3D Medicines, Genuine Biotech, Apexigen, and Centrexion. With outstanding investment performance and excellent research capabilities, Yifeng Capital has been honored with numerous awards such as Top 30 Healthcare Investment Institutions in China by Zero2IPO, Top 100 Venture Capital Institutions in China, Top 10 Best Exit Cases by ChinaVenture, Top 10 Best Biomedical Investment Institutions, and Top 30 Most Dynamic Pharmaceutical Innovation Investment Institutions in China. It has been consecutively ranked as one of the "Top Ten Venture Capital Institutions in Shenzhen" for many years and was featured in an exclusive interview by the world-renowned scientific journal Nature. Yifeng Capital aims to promote the industrialization of biotechnological achievements through capital and contribute to life sciences. After years of accumulation, Yifeng Capital has formed the philosophy of "centering on entrepreneurs and valuing value creators," building a distinctive professional investment team with rich experience. It adheres to a systematic operation integrating investment, financing, risk control, management, and services, striving to become a people-oriented, trustworthy, and enduringly successful investment institution.

Huafang Capital was established in 2017 as a market-oriented fund manager focused on early-stage investments in the biopharmaceutical and advanced manufacturing sectors. Its core team members have over two decades of deep industry experience, possessing extensive knowledge of the sector and offering profound insights into project innovation, differentiation, and the capabilities of entrepreneurial teams. With the mission of "Empowering technology to lead the world through Chinese capital," Huafang Capital consistently adheres to a technology-driven approach, concentrating on disruptive innovations within its areas of expertise. To date, it has completed dozens of project investments. Leveraging the rich industrial resources of Huali Group, which includes multiple publicly listed companies in the biopharmaceutical and advanced manufacturing fields, Huafang Capital provides comprehensive support to its portfolio companies, helping them rapidly grow into leading enterprises within their respective niches.

Dedicated to building an international sci-tech innovation community centered on the life sciences industry. Focusing on four细分fields: synthetic biology, advanced therapies (such as CGT and RNA drugs), innovative medical devices, AI and digitalization, it aims to create a new highland for international sci-tech innovation industries by gathering talent, technology, and capital around the innovation and industrial chains of life sciences. With a三位一体approach of industrial investment promotion, technology investment banking, and industrial operation, it serves scientists' innovation and entrepreneurship and the sustainable growth of sci-tech companies in an all-around way, leading Hangzhou to create a future community with deep integration of "industry, city, humanity" and a demonstration unit for common prosperity.

Sequoia China has always been committed to helping entrepreneurs build enduring great companies, bringing global resources and valuable historical experience to its portfolio companies. As the "entrepreneurs behind entrepreneurs," Sequoia China focuses on investment opportunities in three areas: technology, healthcare, and consumer. Over the past 18 years, Sequoia China has invested in more than 1,000 enterprises characterized by distinct technological features, innovative business models, and high growth and development potential.

Matrix Partners was founded in 2008 and is a leading venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage and early-growth investments. The firm specializes in new technologies, hard tech, industrial digitalization, healthcare, frontier technologies, new consumer trends, and more. It has invested in over 700 companies to date, including XPeng Motors, Li Auto, Hithium, Chehaoduo Group, Ele.me, Youzan, Ronbay Technology, XGIMI Technology, Momo, PingCap, Peijia Medical, Beisen, Zihaiguo, Maxa Technologies, Jane's Yogurt, SemiDrive Technologies, and Magna Robotics.

Since its establishment more than a decade ago, Matrix Partners has built an investment team of over 40 people, continuously making significant investments in China and focusing on early to mid-stage ventures. At the same time, we firmly believe in putting entrepreneurs first and have established a robust post-investment service system. Ten post-investment teams with different functions empower portfolio companies in all aspects such as strategy, operations, and talent, making every effort to provide value to entrepreneurs—offering help without causing trouble.

Huaiji Capital, founded in 2015, is currently a member unit of the China Investment Association, the Provincial Private Equity Investment Industry Association, and the Venture Capital Association. It also serves as the vice president unit of the Hangzhou Venture Capital Association. Huaiji Capital has consistently adhered to the principles of "professionalism, long-term commitment, depth, and collaboration," with the biopharmaceutical industry as one of its core investment focuses. The company has made long-term investments across various sub-sectors such as gene therapies, innovative medical devices, synthetic biology, traditional Chinese medicine, CXO, key raw materials, and core industrial chains. In addition, Huaiji Capital leverages its strengths and capabilities to provide extensive collaboration in product development, manufacturing, market sales, and other operational aspects of its portfolio companies. By driving corporate growth, it fosters industry advancement, continuously discovering and creating value.