Suzhou Xinling Maided MedTech Secures Nearly RMB 100 Million in Series A+ Funding to Advance Percutaneous Ventricular Assist Device Platform

VCBeat learned第一时间 that HearHill has secured nearly RMB 100 million in its Series A+ round of financing, led by Hangzhou Simiao Equity Investment Co., Ltd., with participation from Hangzhou Lula Asset Management Co., Ltd. Existing investors Beijing Alwin Asset Management, Ltd. and TF Capital also continued their investment. The proceeds from this round will primarily be used to further advance the research and development of subsequent percutaneous ventricular assist device (pVAD) products, clinical trials, team building, and the construction of new product platforms.

Currently, HearHill is a leading enterprise in China's transcatheter cardiac pump industry, having developed multiple proprietary transcatheter artificial heart pumps (pVAD). Several of its pumps have entered or are about to enter type inspection. The products have undergone multiple rounds of animal pre-experiments, preliminarily verifying their safety and efficacy. Clinical trials are expected to commence within 2022. In addition to transcatheter artificial heart pumps, the company is also actively advancing in cutting-edge international technologies within the structural heart disease field, striving to establish an innovative cardiovascular product platform centered on life support.

Established for less than a year, the company has already applied for nearly 30 patents, becoming the enterprise with the most patent applications in the interventional artificial heart sector. It has also obtained multiple technical Freedom to Operate (FTO) reports from top-tier patent law firms. Moreover, the company, together with its partners, is actively laying out the upstream key components to enhance China's manufacturing capabilities and overcome bottleneck technologies from overseas. Currently, all components of the product have been localized in China, striving to keep the product price within an affordable range for patients in China.

The percutaneous ventricular assist device (pVAD) has gained recognition from most doctors and is widely used in developed countries in Europe and America. Abiomed, a U.S.-based company, ships tens of thousands of units annually, with an expected revenue of over 1 billion U.S. dollars in 2021 and a market value of 14 billion U.S. dollars. Abiomed's flagship product, Impella, was once briefly introduced into China and received widespread acclaim from doctors who used it. However, its excessively high pricing far exceeds the affordability of patients in China.

HearHill has independently developed a percutaneous artificial heart pump for Chinese patients that is affordable and targets high-risk PCI, cardiogenic shock, and heart failure indications. The product has completed prototyping and entered type inspection. It has received positive feedback from doctors participating in multiple rounds of animal trials. During the animal experiments, the product reached the predetermined position via guidewire within just 5 minutes. After the device was activated, the cardiac output of the animals increased by 50–100%. The optimized pump head demonstrated minimal blood damage, with free hemoglobin levels superior to those of the Impella product.

The team has completed the accumulation of core technologies and built multiple technical platforms, including fluid mechanics, software algorithm platform, and biological evaluation platform. The R&D team of the company comes from various industries such as structural heart devices, medical equipment, aerospace, underwater robotics, and automobiles. Although the average age of the R&D team is 33, several core members have experience in high-risk Class III innovative devices from R&D to clinical trials. During the R&D process, the team fully leverages its advantages such as a new knowledge system and strong execution capabilities.

HearHill's founder expressed gratitude to all investors for their recognition of the team and products. In the past year, HearHill has received multiple rounds of investment from several top medical funds, accumulating hundreds of millions in financing. The transcatheter artificial heart is only a few millimeters in diameter, with minimal implantation trauma, short recovery time, and a quick learning curve for doctors; any doctor familiar with minimally invasive intervention can operate it. Overseas products have been well-validated in fields such as high-risk PCI and cardiogenic shock. It is hoped that the team will soon bring the product to the Chinese market to help more patients.

Ms. Zhiying Chai, Partner of Simiao Capital, stated: Heart failure has become a hot area for medical device innovation both in China and abroad due to the persistent unmet clinical needs. High-risk PCI and cardiogenic shock have relatively high mortality rates, and interventional cardiac pumps have proven to be highly effective in this field. Imported products like Impella are too expensive for Chinese patients to afford. HearHill is focusing on upstream key components, overcoming foreign technical barriers, and aims to produce high-performance, affordable life-saving interventional pump products made in China. Additionally, there is strong recognition of HearHill's founder for their keen ability to capture significant innovative technologies in the medical device field and the company’s culture of innovation and engineering. It is hoped that the company will maintain its pioneering spirit and develop internationally innovative medical device products.

Simiao Capital is a venture capital fund focused on the healthcare sector in China. Guided by the principle of "Passion for Innovation, Creating Value," the company has invested in several outstanding enterprises such as Qiming Medical, Zhiyun Health, Xinmai Medical, and Ruijian Medical. Moving forward, Simiao Capital will continue to maintain its focus, looking forward to creating value for more companies and growing together with entrepreneurs.

Alwin Capital is a venture capital fund in the frontier field of life sciences in China. Driven by professional research and starting from clinical needs, Alwin Capital focuses on cutting-edge innovative technologies in life sciences and invests in genuine medical translation opportunities within the field. With a systematic depiction of scientific disciplines and combined with mature portfolio management, Alwin Capital has formed an extremely forward-looking and systematic investment layout in China's life sciences sector in recent years, nurturing important leading companies in multiple innovation-driven niche areas. At the same time, Alwin Capital has also built a significant corporate ecosystem in the frontier fields of life sciences, extending deeply upstream and downstream as well as cross-expanding multi-platform technologies. Alwin Capital has formed comprehensive and profound competitive advantages in project acquisition, portfolio construction, and post-investment empowerment.

TF Capital focuses on venture capital in the life sciences sector, primarily investing in promising early-stage and growth-stage enterprises. Through diversified and strategic planning, it selects high-quality partners, aiming to seize opportunities amid the rapid development of China's life sciences industry. The investment team has years of experience and industry resources in these fields, hoping to grow rapidly alongside the invested companies.