Elite Scientific Secures RMB 100 Million Series A+ Financing to Accelerate Product Portfolio Enhancement and Global Expansion

VCBeat has learned at the earliest opportunity,Suzhou Yilite Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Yilite Technology”)Recently completed a RMB 100 million Series A+ financing round, led byJunxin Capital, Guotai Junan Innovation InvestmentCo-led investment,Yimei InvestmentCo-investment,Springhill CapitalContinues to serve as the exclusive financial advisor. This marks Yilite Technology’s follow-up toCompleted its first round of financing, exceeding RMB 100 million, in January 2024Subsequently, another round of financing was completed.

Yilite Technology is a leading domestic liquid chromatography enterprise with independent R&D capabilities and mass production capacity. It holds a leading market share for domestically produced HPLC systems in China. By securing over one hundred core patents, the company has achieved independent intellectual property rights for key components of liquid chromatography systems.

Suzhou Yilite Technology Co., Ltd. has always been committed to the research and development process of achieving “true localization” for analytical instruments. By fully mastering key underlying technologies, supply chains, and mass production techniques, the company ensures product stability while leanly controlling production costs. In response to the national emphasis on supply chain security, and leveraging its 30 years of accumulated expertise in liquid chromatography, Yilite has achieved a 95% localization rate for core components of its chromatography equipment through independent R&D and manufacturing, as well as collaborations with domestic suppliers. The company’s products meet the R&D and production needs of customers across various sectors, including universities and research institutions, biopharmaceuticals, testing services, petrochemicals, food, and environmental protection.

Yilite Technology has built a rich business matrix centered on the field of liquid chromatography:

• Product Chain Has Formed a Closed Loop: A Complete Solution Integrating Instruments, Consumables, Software, Components, and Technical Services

The company is the only enterprise in China with mass production experience in both chromatography instruments and consumables. Its series of liquid chromatography products hold a leading market share domestically. To date, cumulative sales of domestically produced instruments have exceeded 17,000 units, and over 200,000 chromatography columns have been sold. More than 95% of the instruments, software, and components are independently developed and manufactured. Coupled with professional technical after-sales support, this ensures customers receive maximum assurance throughout the procurement, usage, and after-sales stages.

• Vertical Product Line Expansion: Continuously Enriching the Product Gradient

HPLC (High-Performance Liquid Chromatography) systems encompass four models spanning low, mid, and high-end tiers. The analytical instrumentation portfolio is vertically expanded to include UHPLC (Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography), LC-MS/MS (Triple Quadrupole Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry), and GC (Gas Chromatography). Preparative chromatography offerings range from laboratory-scale semi-preparative and preparative purification systems to industrial-scale preparative systems, as well as precision fluid delivery devices for synthetic biology and microchemical reactions. In addition to instruments, the product line includes consumables such as liquid chromatography columns and core components like metering pumps for preparative chromatography.

• Horizontal Application Expansion: Emerging Biopharmaceutical & Clinical Fields

Building on its solid foundation in laboratory physicochemical and liquid chromatography products, the company is expanding into the upstream purification sector of emerging biotechnologies and the field of clinical analytical diagnostics, continuously investing in the R&D of a series of instrumental products and corresponding chromatographic consumables to create“Laboratory Physicochemical Analysis + Upstream Purification of Emerging Biotechnologies + Clinical Analytical Testing”A Trinity Business Landscape.

Focusing on the global development of biopharmaceuticals—ranging from mature small molecules and large molecules to emerging peptides and nucleic acid drugs—there has been a surge in demand for analysis and purification solutions in corresponding R&D and production processes. Leveraging 30 years of deep expertise in laboratory physicochemical analysis and preparation, Suzhou Yilite Technology Co., Ltd. can rapidly customize cost-effective solutions tailored to the application needs of these emerging fields, thereby enhancing accessibility for downstream customers.

For clinical applications, the company has successfully launched liquid chromatography products specifically designed for clinical use, such as those for glycated hemoglobin and therapeutic drug monitoring. The company’s series of dedicated chromatography analyzers, featuring “low cost” and “foolproof operation,” have resolved the prevailing challenges in clinical settings—namely, “high instrument costs” and “complex operations”—by providing a fundamental solution that facilitates deeper penetration of liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry systems into clinical applications.

The company has begun to lay out its overseas sales segment, and has reached a strategic cooperation agreement with well-known pharmaceutical companies abroad and started sales. As of 2023, the company has achieved sales in 45 overseas countries, with users in developed countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Italy. In 2024, it will accelerate the development of international business and strive to become a leading "international" liquid chromatography company in China.

Li Yabo, CEO of Suzhou Yilite Technology Co., Ltd.Statement: We extend our sincere gratitude to investors for their continued recognition and support of Yilite! As a leading domestic enterprise in the field of liquid chromatography, Yilite has remained dedicated to this sector for three decades. Leveraging reliable product quality, a localization rate of over 98% for components, and an excellent pre-sales and after-sales service system, Yilite has secured a leading position in China’s domestic liquid chromatography market. The company has currently established three business lines: analytical physicochemical analysis, preparative purification, and clinical diagnostics. Its product portfolio encompasses dozens of instruments and associated consumables, including liquid chromatographs, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatographs (UHPLC), triple quadrupole mass spectrometers, and gas chromatographs. The proceeds from this round of financing will continue to be allocated to new product development, overseas channel expansion, and daily operations. Suzhou Yilite Technology Co., Ltd. will persist in its path of independent research and development, continuously launching more competitive products, cultivating genuine new-quality productive forces in the domestic liquid chromatography sector, and providing superior products and services to customers both in China and abroad.

Junxin CapitalIt states that liquid chromatography is a key segment of upstream analytical instrumentation for basic scientific research and the biopharmaceutical industry. Suzhou Yilite Technology Co., Ltd. has earned a strong reputation in the industry thanks to the stable and reliable performance of its chromatography instruments, consumables, and software. Leveraging years of accumulated technical expertise and process know-how, the company has independently achieved R&D and manufacturing of core components, actively advancing the localization of the liquid chromatography sector. We look forward to the company’s sustained rapid growth, its early breakthrough of import monopolies in the field, and its emergence as a leading enterprise in China’s high-end scientific instrument market.

Guotai Junan Innovation InvestmentIt is stated that high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) instruments are typical high-precision analytical devices with a large market space and high technical barriers. They represent a critical “chokepoint” technology, a key breakthrough direction in the dual-circulation strategy, and constitute new quality productive forces aligned with the requirements of high-quality development. As the domestic leader in the liquid chromatography industry, Suzhou Yilite Technology Co., Ltd. possesses core technologies, strong independent R&D capabilities, and high brand recognition. We are optimistic about the import substitution process for liquid chromatography and look forward to growing alongside Suzhou Yilite Technology Co., Ltd.

Yimei InvestmentShanghai Yimei Capital Management L.P. stated: “Yimei Capital has long focused on the biopharmaceutical and healthcare industry, completing investments in multiple projects and sub-funds in recent years. As a leader in the field of liquid chromatography in China, Suzhou Yilite Technology Co., Ltd. has achieved a high rate of domestic production, high stability in manufacturing, and high reliability in quality over more than 30 years under the leadership of an excellent management team. Yimei Capital is honored to participate in this round of financing and hopes to leverage its strengths to support the company’s development in areas such as university collaborations, overseas market expansion, and product introduction.”

Junxin Capital is a fully market-oriented private equity investment platform under the Juneyao Group–Aijian Group umbrella. It has long been deeply engaged in the two major sectors of healthcare and information technology, focusing on leading enterprises in various industry sub-sectors. The firm invests in technology-driven growth companies characterized by “advanced technology + import substitution” and “advanced technology + enterprise services,” and consistently provides exceptional services to its portfolio companies in areas such as corporate governance, strategic planning and execution, business expansion, IPOs, and M&A. Adhering to a results-oriented and self-driven corporate culture, Junxin Capital upholds the business principles of “focus, integrity, and long-term commitment.” It continuously enhances its three core competencies—professionalism, resources, and service—while building an employee-centric organization internally and a service brand centered on limited partners (LPs) and portfolio companies externally. With a vision spanning twenty years of sustained effort, Junxin Capital aspires to become one of China’s premier venture capital and private equity institutions.

Guotai Junan Innovation Investment Limited Company (hereinafter referred to as “Guotai Junan Innovation Investment”) is the sole wholly-owned private equity investment management subsidiary under Guotai Junan Securities. It is responsible for managing a variety of alternative assets, including private equity, special opportunities, and new infrastructure, with assets under management totaling nearly RMB 70 billion.

Guided by technological innovation, the Company is committed to serving the implementation of national strategies and the growth of the real economy. It focuses on four key sectors: emerging technologies, biopharmaceuticals, green development, and consumer livelihoods. The Company has established a core business layout centered on “fund of funds + industrial funds,” developed alternative investment lines in urban renewal, new infrastructure, and special opportunities, and relies on rigorous closed-loop management across the entire “fundraising, investment, management, and exit” process, along with a professional team, to continuously create value for partners and stakeholders.

The Company is committed to generating sustainable, long-term, and stable value growth for global investors by building an excellent, rigorous, and professional investment research system and enhancing its comprehensive, full-lifecycle operational capabilities. It remains focused on cultivating high-growth, high-quality enterprises with strong technological and innovative DNA. By leveraging capital and innovative investment solutions, the Company empowers top-tier entrepreneurs to realize their fullest potential, drives the overall development of the industries in which its portfolio companies operate, and strives to fulfill its mission of serving the nation through finance.

Yimei Capital is an industry-leading asset management institution, specializing in fund investments and direct investments in the private equity market. The Yimei team boasts over 30 years of international investment experience and more than 20 years of domestic investment experience, having navigated multiple economic cycles and the full life cycles of numerous funds. For many years, it has provided professional, customized equity investment fund management services to large institutional clients both domestically and internationally, including university endowments, public pension funds, family offices, and government guidance funds.

Springhill Capital is the boutique investment banking arm under Springhill. It remains committed to serving top-tier projects and introducing premier funds, having supported a cohort of leading companies in niche sectors such as biotechnology, medical technology, and high-end upstream industrial manufacturing.

Qifeng provides full-lifecycle capital services for enterprises, with businesses including: 1) Qifeng Capital: boutique investment banking services; 2) Qishi Dingfeng: early-stage incubation/investment; 3) Qifeng Integration: precise M&A and capital exit.