Cathay Consumer Co-Creation Fund Partners with Sanofi to Capture Early-Stage Opportunities in China's Health and Wellness Sector

This significant strategic cooperation marks Sanofi Consumer Healthcare's first investment in a private equity institution globally, and also demonstrates its determination to build an ecosystem in China's healthcare sector.

Cathay Consumer Co-Creation Fund adheres to the investment philosophy of co-creation and win-win, incubating and investing in early-stage startups in the consumer health field. As a "founding partner," it supports the growth of outstanding entrepreneurs at an even earlier stage. At the same time, through in-depth collaboration with investors, it identifies industry pain points, accelerates the digitalization of consumer health, and achieves co-investment, co-creation, and mutual success.

Cathay Consumer Co-Creation Fund completed its first close in July 2021. With the investment philosophy of "co-creation and win-win," it partners with global industry leaders to incubate and invest in Chinese startups at the seed to Series A financing stages. As an "entrepreneurial partner," it supports outstanding entrepreneurs in China's consumer industry chain with significant growth potential, creating positive value for both enterprises and society. At the same time, leveraging Cathay's broader global perspective, industry insights from mid-to-late stage investments, systematic research capabilities, and early-stage project sourcing abilities, the fund co-invests and collaborates with Cathay’s industry background investors to achieve mutual success.

To date, Cathay Consumer Co-creation Fund, with the support of top global industry investors, has completed a systematic review of the industry across key areas including beauty and skincare, the metaverse, retail channels, covering nearly a thousand innovative brands. The addition of Sanofi's Consumer Healthcare division will further expand the fund’s growth boundaries, addressing pain points in China’s health consumption sector, and accelerating the digital transformation of consumer health. Together, they will explore the possibilities brought by interdisciplinary technologies to China’s consumer industry, creating more opportunities and value for portfolio companies, industrial investors, and society at large.

New Consumption Innovation New Channels Digitalization

With the rapid development of China's consumer health sector, an increasing number of young Chinese brands are growing quickly. We believe that in the near future, China will inevitably give rise to a new generation of world-class consumer brands with global influence — an inevitable outcome of China's rapid advancements in digitalization, supply chain, and independent research and development. By investing in Cathay Consumer Co-creation Fund, Sanofi's consumer healthcare division will strategically position itself for future business growth, continuing to focus on actively and swiftly responding to the Chinese market, incubating innovations, and exploring potential early-stage investments in China’s broader health and wellness sector.

As the only investor in the consumer healthcare sector of Cathay Consumer Co-Creation Fund, Sanofi Consumer Healthcare will collaborate deeply with Cathay to comprehensively support Sanofi Consumer Healthcare in identifying early opportunities in China's healthcare sector, accelerating digital transformation, seizing new track opportunities, and incubating innovative models. At the same time, it will empower and be empowered by other investors and portfolio companies within the Cathay fund ecosystem, accelerating the creation of an all-encompassing ecosystem.

This investment signing with Cathay Fund coincides with the visit to China by Julie Van-Ongevalle, Vice President of Sanofi's global Consumer Healthcare Division. During a media interview, Ms. Julie expressed the original intention behind this investment: "With the continuous upgrading of consumption and the increasing health awareness, the demand from Chinese consumers for health products is also growing. Since officially entering the Chinese market, Sanofi's Consumer Healthcare Division has been committed to providing consumers with innovative self-care solutions. Meanwhile, we are also very honored to collaborate with Cathay Consumption Co-creation Fund..."Jin Dacheng"This collaboration leverages their extensive experience in selecting and investing in enterprises, creating more favorable conditions for us to connect with the innovative ecosystem of China's consumer health startups. It helps us accelerate 'ecosystem cooperation' and enables us to provide faster and better services to Chinese consumers in China's broader health sector."

Cai Mingpo, founder and chairman of Cathay Capital, said: "Cathay Capital firmly believes in the vast space and vitality of China's consumer market. A new generation of world-class consumer goods, retail, and consumer technology companies are emerging in this land. In our investment practices, Cathay Capital consistently implements the philosophy of 'achieving oneself by benefiting others,' actively connecting industrial resources from around the world to build an ecosystem with deep interaction. With our unique co-creation fund model, we will continue to collaborate with Sanofi and other industry background investors to discover, incubate, and support high-potential startups, hoping to create long-term value for consumers."