Amidst the Deep Freeze of Medical Investment, WinX Capital Blooms Like a Lone Plum Blossom on Ice-Covered Cliffs

The primary market in 2025 has been experiencing a prolonged chill.

The number of market-oriented financings, the scale of institutional fundraising, and the volume of FA service cases have continued to shrink at a double-digit rate annually. In contrast to the fervent activity in the big tech sector, the healthcare track remains relatively bleak.

WinX Capital bucked the trend, completing over 50 projects and more than 60 transactions,Amount exceeding RMB 10 billion;Disclosure at the Start of 2026SuccessCase has beenDaNearly 20。Behind this lies the long-termist philosophy of “building strong fortifications and fighting methodical battles,” as well as a precise strategic positioning in “hardcore medical technology” and “new-quality productive forces.”

As the capital market shifts from calm waters to turbulent seas, how does WinX Capital anchor its course? Amidst the prevailing narrative of a “winter” in the industry, does WinX Capital, as a leading financial advisor in the healthcare sector, also face immense pressure?Recently, a VCBeat reporter conducted an exclusive interview with Zou Guowen, founder of WinX Capital.

“No matter how intractable the problem, I can still sleep soundly.” Amid the pervasive pessimism currently gripping the medical investment community, this statement by Zou Guowen, founder of WinX Capital, stands out as particularly striking. This is not blind optimism, but rather a conviction forged and validated through market cycles.

Data speaks volumes. In previous years, the fundraising cycle for healthcare projects typically ranged from three to six months; however, over the past two years, this period has frequently stretched beyond twelve months. “This is not an issue isolated to any single stage, but rather a systemic shift,” analyzes Zou Guowen. The convergence of multiple factors—including prolonged decision-making chains driven by the rising proportion of state-owned limited partners (LPs), more granular due diligence under stricter regulatory oversight, and the cautious sentiment in the primary market transmitted from inverted valuations in the secondary market—has turned fundraising from a “sprint” into a “marathon.”

In this environment, Zou Guowen often cites the allegory from On Protracted War to his team: “The situation China faced at that time was far more difficult than it is now, but the core logic remains the same—we must recognize both the difficulties and our advantages; we must oppose capitulationism while also guarding against the illusion of a quick victory.”

Zou Guowen observed two typical misconceptions:

First is the “aversion-to-difficulty abandonment” by financial advisors (FAs). Some projects had overly high valuations, or their commercialization progress fell short of expectations; after assessment, teams deemed the challenges too great and abandoned them. In hindsight, however, many of these projects subsequently secured financing quite successfully. This exposes a flaw in the analytical framework: overestimating the challenges of fundraising while systematically underestimating the projects’ differentiated strengths.

Second is the corporate mindset of “expecting a quick win.” Some founders still operate with financing expectations from previous years, hoping to close deals within three to six months. When they encounter enthusiastic investors, they prematurely assume the deal is “in the bag,” showing little willingness to accommodate the specific requirements of other GPs and their underlying LPs. “This is not because the companies are flawed or the investors are unreliable; rather, it reflects an underestimation of the current complexity of fundraising. Changes in leadership within state-owned capital systems, sudden negative industry publicity, historical issues uncovered during due diligence, or even disagreements over certain terms between new and existing shareholders can all become deal killers.”

In the face of uncertainty, WinX Capital emphasizes its internal “Jigsaw Methodology,” which deconstructs successful fundraising into quantifiable key elements: the narrative clarity of technological barriers, clinical data milestones, the predictability of regulatory pathways, and the clarity of exit channels.“If you can’t piece the puzzle together right away, don’t be discouraged; keep searching, and you may well find a breakthrough around the corner,” said Zou Guowen. “As long as the project’s fundamentals are solid, financing will surely succeed. The key is to clarify how to make it happen and assemble all the necessary elements.”

As a “veteran” who has weathered the trough in healthcare investment and the impact of the new asset management regulations, Zou Guowen maintains a clear-eyed understanding of market cycles: “The volatility of the primary market is not a predicament to be avoided, but a litmus test for the mettle of both companies and individuals. Amidst the hype and restlessness at the peak, it is only during the downturns that one can discern who is truly getting things done—those who make money often do so quietly, while those who remain superficially noisy and complaint-ridden are rarely the successful ones.” This steadiness is also reflected in his approach to team management: “Complaint is the cheapest emotion. What we must do is seek ways to break through impasses and conduct in-depth exploration with a problem-solving orientation.”

“Shuffling the deck is also an opportunity. If your current hand is weak, you’ll never get a good one without reshuffling.” Zou Guowen, an avid Guandan player, set this tone at WinX Capital’s recent internal review meeting.

A team review revealed that over the past two years, the healthcare investment market has exhibited typical “schizophrenic” characteristics. Systematic sector-wide opportunities have been scarce, and investment logic has shifted from “sector-driven” to “deal-driven.” No one can confidently articulate which specific sectors are promising; instead, the focus has returned to whether individual projects have delivered on their earlier promises.

“The industry has been undergoing a reshuffle in recent years—companies, investment institutions, and financial advisors (FAs) have all been affected. However, this reshuffle implies a realignment of rankings and also suggests that your competitors may be holding even weaker cards.” Zou Guowen believes that the current market chaos is essentially a vacuum period between the disintegration of the old order and the establishment of new rules. “Even a strong hand can lose, while a weak one can turn the tables; the key lies in strategy and coordination. Chaos is a ladder upward, but only if you remain at the table.”

As the market reminisces about tales of “lightning-fast advances” and “unbroken streaks of victory,” WinX Capital has chosen a more cumbersome path—“building strong fortifications and fighting methodical battles.”

“Each team member’s capabilities have improved several-fold compared to a few years ago, but due to market conditions, it is difficult to achieve the results we once did.” Zou Guowen candidly admitted that this gap tests the team’s mindset and ability to remain steady—by accepting the reality of “slow variables” and dedicating energy to initiatives that cannot be quantified in the short term but yield long-term compound returns.

Therefore, the team must possess unwavering resolve, thorough preparation, and ample patience. “We frequently emphasize to entrepreneurs the paramount importance of talent. This aligns with the ‘Determined’ component of WinX Capital’s PHD (Professional, Hungry, Determined) talent model. With each retrospective review, we become increasingly convinced that this is the key to success.”

Amid the market downturn, WinX Capital has repeatedly taken over deals that other financial advisors (FAs) failed to advance. Zou Guowen revealed a typical transaction:

The project faces a narrow market space, with its core segment mired in controversy due to centralized procurement. Characterized by a long development cycle and pressure from existing shareholders to exit, it is a typical case labeled as “difficult to finance.”

WinX Capital did not follow the conventional equity financing path; instead, it restructured the transaction by having a subsidiary raise funds to acquire its parent company in a reverse merger. The firm persuaded a large international institution to lead the investment and subsequently coordinated numerous complex transaction details, facilitating the exit of many existing shareholders and ultimately closing the deal. Endorsement from this renowned institution created a “lighthouse effect,” rapidly attracting follow-on investments from multiple other firms and transforming the company’s previously blocked financing channels into open and accessible ones.

Regarding specific strategic advantages, WinX Capital summarizes them as “hold the pen firmly, manage the purse strings tightly, and avoid any mishaps.”

“Pen Pushers”: The team boasts robust capabilities in industry analysis and material preparation, saving considerable effort for both enterprises and investors while enabling all parties to quickly grasp the project’s highlights and underlying logic. Particularly in an era dominated by state-owned capital and corporate venture capital (CVC), aligning with investors’ mindsets and requirements, catering to the specific demands of corresponding funds, and resolving bottlenecks remain key areas where WinX Capital continuously conducts internal reviews and strives for improvement.

Fundraising has long been WinX Capital’s forte. From diverse market-oriented institutions to large state-owned enterprises (SOEs), local governments, and corporate venture capital (CVC) strategic investors, WinX Capital maintains an extensive investor network. Particularly in the current market environment, systematic and in-depth institutional coverage serves as WinX Capital’s key advantage in adapting to changing conditions. “Only with a steady inflow of fresh water from the source can the pond remain vibrant,” emphasized Zou Guowen. Given that a significant portion of core capital in the market originates from major SOEs and local governments, a thorough understanding of the nature and objectives of such capital is essential for facilitating successful transactions. Over the past year, large SOEs and CVCs have frequently appeared as counterparties in deals, spanning a geographic footprint from Tonghua in Jilin Province in the north to Hainan Province in the south.

For example, Newrite Medical completed approximately RMB 800 million in Series D financing in 2025, co-led by Shenzhen Capital Group and PICC Capital, with participation from several renowned institutions including China National Nuclear Corporation Fund and the AstraZeneca CICC Healthcare Industry Fund. WinX Capital served as the lead financial advisor. This transaction validated WinX Capital’s precise judgment on its “radiopharmaceuticals + radioisotopes” dual-drive model and successfully attracted multiple seasoned institutional investors.

Tongxin Medical completed a strategic financing round exceeding USD 100 million in 2025. The round was co-led by the Beijing Mentougou Zhuxin Fund, Gaorong Ventures, and Gaoke Xinjun Capital, with participation from renowned institutions such as Huachuang Capital and the Beijing High-Precision Advanced Industry Fund. Existing shareholder Sequoia China continued to increase its investment, while WinX Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor. Following the completion of the financing, Tongxin Medical has successfully submitted its application to the STAR Market.

SenseTime Medical completed hundreds of millions of yuan in Pre-A and strategic financing rounds in 2025, with WinX Capital serving as its long-term financial advisor. This case successfully facilitated the introduction of industrial and state-owned capital to the leading AI healthcare company, demonstrating its resource integration capabilities in the interdisciplinary field of “AI + Healthcare.”

The team’s renowned stability in the industry brings not only accumulated experience but also a deep understanding of local government demands. Zou Guowen emphasized,“WinXIt is the first FA in the industry to conduct systematic research on reverse investment, with coverage led by partners who have state-owned enterprise work backgrounds.Dozens of first- and second-tierKey cities, with localized teams established in priority regions, and a proprietary map of local state-owned asset demands.”

It is precisely this pragmatic spirit and down-to-earth approach that have earned WinX Capital the long-term trust of numerous enterprises. Moreover, centering on outstanding entrepreneurs, providing in-depth and thorough financing support, and guiding companies to IPOs have gradually become a hallmark of WinX Capital:Provide in-depth, long-term services to outstanding entrepreneurs, rather than facilitating one-off transactions.

Junhemeng Bio’s growth trajectory serves as a typical illustration of this model. WinX Capital accompanied the company through five consecutive closings, precisely aligning with its core needs at each stage of development and establishing a clear gradient evolution of investors. This progression ranged from initial support by local state-owned capital when the company was just emerging, to co-investment by healthcare and interdisciplinary VC funds as it gained recognition, followed by the introduction of pharmaceutical corporate venture capital (CVC), and most recently, the participation of large-scale “national team” investors and consumer internet CVCs in its latest financing round. The investor gradient is distinctly defined.

WinX Capital Charts a New Course: Not Chasing Trends, but a Strategic Choice After Prudent Deliberation. Zou Guowen’s Criteria: Heed the Party’s Call and Follow Its Lead, While Positioning Ahead of Emerging Trends.

In 2024, before brain-computer interfaces became a market hotspot, WinX Capital had already signed an agreement with Zhiran Medical. In the first half of 2025, Zhiran Medical completed two major rounds of financing totaling over RMB 600 million. Investors included the Zhongguancun Independent Innovation Special Fund of the National Social Security Fund (managed by Legend Capital), Legend Capital, IDG Capital, Genesis Ventures, China Life Capital, Beijing Pharmaceutical and Health Industry Investment Fund, Lenovo Capital, Meituan DragonBall, Baidu Venture Capital, and CAS Star. As Dr. Song Qi, CEO of Zhiran Medical, remarked, “During the winter season, reliable and stable delivery capability is more important than anything else. What entrepreneurs need are capital partners worthy of long-term trust.”

This case validates WinX Capital’s predictive logic: entering the market before trends become clear to establish a first-mover advantage through professional service capabilities.

Meanwhile, against the backdrop of tightening healthcare cost controls, the growth ceiling for projects appears within reach. WinX Capital has begun to explore the extension of biotechnology into consumer scenarios. The direction WinX Capital has been contemplating and exploring is: beyond hospitals, what other settings are more suitable for biotech consumption? How can we reduce the barriers to adopting biotechnological products and services?

Weimai Medical is a typical practitioner of this logic. This project represents an endeavor by a serious medical technology team to expand into the consumer market, creating a form of “dimensional reduction” competitive advantage. It has secured joint investment from top-tier institutions, local governments, and corporate venture capital (CVC) firms, with investors continuing to increase their stakes. Another case is Methuselah Health, a medical nutrition project. After WinX Capital’s team served Yinnuo Medicine and Zhitai Biotechnology in the GLP-1 field, they identified sustained opportunities in the weight-loss market and subsequently helped Methuselah Health secure multiple rounds of financing totaling hundreds of millions of RMB from several well-known funds and CVCs.

Furthermore, WinX Capital is the first financial advisory (FA) firm in the industry to systematically establish a presence in the agricultural sector. The underlying rationale for this strategic choice is that, against the backdrop of Sino-US rivalry and frequent trade disputes, national strategic priorities have shifted toward security and self-reliance, making food security increasingly prominent. As distinct application areas of biotechnology, the agricultural sector exhibits technological synergies with WinX’s healthcare-focused expertise.

Recently, WinX Capital has served several prominent companies in the fields of biological breeding and animal health, including Qihe Bio (a gene-editing biological breeding enterprise), Borui Di (a molecular breeding and synthetic biology CRO platform), GreenAgri (an emerging player in phage-based antibiotic alternatives), Zhongnong Breeding Resources (an internationally leading swine design breeding technology platform), and China Organo (a globally leading biotechnology company specializing in xenotransplantation). These projects all represent the technological forefront of China’s bio-agricultural development.

Zou Guowen summarized that projects more likely to secure financing at present must demonstrate sustainable growth potential and align with investors’ evaluation preferences.WinX Capital’s internally distilled “Four Key Value Drivers” include: revenue and profitability, the “hard CAR-T” concept, the global expansion concept, and the broad out-of-hospital pan-health concept. The two strategic threads are: moving upstream against the current to explore the industrial chain, and transcending industry boundaries to focus on interdisciplinary fields.

“This may not be the best era for venture capital, but once all negative factors have been fully priced in, it becomes a positive.” Zou Guowen stated with conviction.

Zou Guowen enjoys running under pressure, with 10-kilometer runs being a routine part of his life. A post on his WeChat Moments reads: “Flowers bloom toward the sun; people move forward. Continuous running is the power of progress.” This mirrors WinX Capital’s philosophy of upholding integrity while pursuing innovative strategies—pragmatic and grounded, without ostentation or exaggeration.

As the industry undergoes a paradigm shift from “broad-brush expansion” to “precision cultivation,” WinX Capital chooses to serve as a navigator with a compass in hand, guiding the industry through the fog of cyclical fluctuations and practicing long-termism. In every cycle of capital, we ensure that the flame of industrial innovation never dies out. This is not only WinX’s philosophy for survival but also our expectation for China’s industrial upgrading, and a source of profound pride.

WinX Capital is a leading investment bank in China’s healthcare industry, headquartered in Beijing and Shanghai, with offices in Shenzhen and Hangzhou. It has received numerous accolades, including Qimingpian’s “Top 1 Financial Advisor in the Healthcare Sector (2024–2025)” and “Top 1 on the 2025 China Best Financial Advisors Active List,” First New Voice’s “Top 1 Financial Advisory Firm in the Healthcare Sector (2022–2025),” and VCBeat’s “Annual Healthcare Financial Advisor – Future Healthcare 100 (2022–2024).”

In 2025, China’s primary healthcare market exhibited a tone of “stabilized volume with structural divergence.” Innovative drugs and medical devices served as the capital anchor, while investment hotspots rotated rapidly. State-owned capital and industrial investors emerged as stabilizing forces in the market. WinX Capital capitalized on these structural opportunities, achieving counter-trend growth amidst the downturn.

In advantageous sectors such as the biopharmaceutical industry chain, WinX Capital continues to consolidate its leading position, facilitating substantial financing rounds for industry leaders including Newreat, Xiantong Medicine, Zhengxiang Medicine, Tongrui Medicine, Nuou Shen, Tianchen Biology, Ruizhou Biology, Zhishan Weixin, Boyin Biology, Sixing Glass, Miaoshun Biology, and Lide Health.

In the fields of medical devices and frontier technologies, WinX Capital has continued to expand its competitive edge, facilitating multiple successful financing rounds for dozens of industry-leading companies, including Tongxin Medical, Nuoyi Maier, Rosenbot, Zhiran Medical, SenseTime Medical, Chentai New Materials, Weimai Medical, Suzhou Meichuang, Dishu Medical, Zhitong Technology, Ruishi, Yijiada, Yuewei Medical, Meiyang Technology, and Ganaive.

In emerging fields such as biomanufacturing and agrifood technology, we assisted industry pioneers including Junhemeng, Methuselah, Yanwei Technology, Grain, Rongrui Technology, Meibo Biotech, Chengyuan Biotech, Huasai Biotech, Tangneng Technology, Junji Biotech, Joyvio Fresh & Joyvio Berry, and Jiaweida in securing key financing rounds.