Huabor Neutron Completes Over RMB 100 Million Series Angel Financing, Lightsource Capital Serves as Exclusive Financial Advisor

HBNCT Technology (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd. (“HBNCT”) announced the completion of its angel financing round, raising over RMB 100 million. The round was co-led by Caitai Capital and Nuoyu Capital, with participation from Zhongke Chuangxing and Kunlun Capital. Lighthouse Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this transaction. The proceeds will be used for team building, advancing clinical trials of the linear accelerator-based BNCT system, and boron drug development.

Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) utilizes thermal/epithermal neutrons with boron-containing drugs accumulated in the tumor site¹⁰Element B undergoes a capture reaction, producing an alpha particle and⁷Li nucleus, thereby precisely killing tumor cells.Compared with conventional radiotherapy, proton therapy, and heavy-ion therapy, BNCT offers advantages such as shorter treatment duration, superior targeting, fewer side effects, better clinical efficacy, and controllable costs.However, over the past few decades, the difficulties in obtaining neutron beams from reactors have limited the development of BNCT.

With the emergence and maturation of accelerator-based neutron source technologies over the past decade, the potential of BNCT has been gradually unlocked. In March 2020, Japan’s Tohoku Rosai Hospital’s accelerator-based BNCT system received market approval due to its outstanding clinical performance in the indication of head and neck cancers, and was included in Japan’s national health insurance reimbursement scheme in June of the same year. Beyond head and neck cancers, multiple other indications—including glioma, melanoma, recurrent meningioma, and cardiac sarcoma—are currently in clinical trials and are expected to receive market approval in the future.

The founding team of HBNCT Technology comprises professors and industry professionals with many years of in-depth experience in neutron science, medical devices, and nuclear medicine.Professor Wang Sheng, the founder, is an internationally renowned neutron scientist, a Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, a national-level leading talent, and a committee member of the Union for Compact Accelerator-driven Neutron Sources (UCANS). He has received numerous top-tier academic awards from organizations such as the World Congress on Nuclear Engineering and the China Association for Inventions. During his tenure in Japan, Professor Wang spearheaded the construction of multiple accelerator-based neutron sources with leading performance metrics and made outstanding contributions to the miniaturization of accelerator-based neutron sources. In 2015, Professor Wang returned to China and established the Advanced Neutron Technology Lab (ANT Lab) at Xi’an Jiaotong University, where he led his team in tackling key challenges in the development of next-generation Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) systems, achieving a series of breakthrough results.

The company currently possesses comprehensive capabilities across the entire spectrum of research and development, design, and engineering implementation for devices, pharmaceuticals, and software involved in accelerator-based boron neutron capture therapy (AB-BNCT), while also achieving independent intellectual property rights and full localization of equipment manufacturing.HBNCT Technology has completed the engineering implementation of the world’s first accelerator-driven BNCT device for veterinary use, while its high-current accelerator-driven BNCT device for clinical applications has completed design and manufacturing and entered the equipment assembly phase. The completion of this round of financing will accelerate HBNCT Technology’s progress in team building, advancing clinical trials of its accelerator-based BNCT system, and developing boron drugs, thereby providing more treatment options for cancer patients at an earlier date.

In this regard,Professor Wang Sheng, Founder and Chairman of HBNCT Technology“BNCT, as the most advanced radiotherapy technology, has brought hope to countless cancer patients. Through twenty years of unwavering dedication, our team has mastered the full-process accelerator-based BNCT solution and achieved its engineering implementation. We are delighted to have introduced Kaitai Capital, Nuoyu Capital, CAS Star, and Kunlun Capital to participate in this round of financing, with the support and collaboration of Source Code Capital. We believe that the integration of technology, industry, and capital, combined with the collaboration of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs, and forged through passion, dreams, and hard work, will undoubtedly endow HBNCT Technology with limitless future possibilities! We also look forward to working together with investors and industry partners to accelerate the clinical application of BNCT products, thereby providing more options for physicians and patients.”

Yang Zhiwen, Founding Partner of Nuoyu CapitalHe stated, “Professor Wang Sheng’s project transported me back more than two decades, when, as the Director of the Department of Nuclear Medicine at Shougang Hospital, I envisioned the ultimate paradigm for radionuclide therapy in nuclear medicine: radionuclides that could selectively accumulate in tumor cells and emit alpha particles. This approach would simultaneously cause irreparable double-strand DNA breaks to eradicate cancer cells completely, while sparing surrounding healthy tissues due to the short path length of alpha radiation (equivalent to only 1–2 cell diameters). Furthermore, such radionuclides would not deliver additional radiation damage to normal tissues along their delivery pathway, nor would any long-half-life radionuclides remain in the body. While neither nuclear medicine nor radiotherapy alone could achieve these objectives, Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) has nearly perfectly realized this long-held aspiration of nuclear medicine physicians. Moreover, Professor Wang Sheng’s team has achieved fully independent research and development of key technologies, including high-current proton accelerators, lithium target systems, beam shaping assemblies, treatment planning systems, and boron-containing drugs. We are deeply honored to participate in the BNCT endeavor, which holds the promise of transforming the future of cancer therapy. We look forward to Professor Wang and his team delivering further breakthroughs in the field of oncology.”

Wang Yanan, Executive President of Kaitai Capital“It represents the latest breakthrough in the field of tumor radiotherapy, offering advantages in both efficacy and safety, with a short treatment course requiring only 1–2 sessions. This will bring disruptive change to the field of radiotherapy. As a novel therapy, BNCT still has significant room for optimization, including equipment upgrades and the development of new boron drugs. We are optimistic that BNCT will become a cornerstone treatment in radiotherapy in the future. The founding team of HBNCT Technology, led by Professor Wang Sheng, possesses decades of experience in the research and development of compact accelerator-based neutron sources, as well as extensive expertise in industrialization and market promotion. Each generation of technology breeds its own entrepreneurs. Cathay Capital appreciates the entrepreneurial spirit and innovative capabilities of the HBNCT Technology founding team and is honored to support the development of China’s BNCT industry.”

Hong Lei, Executive Director of Lightsource Capital“He stated, ‘As a cutting-edge cancer treatment modality, BNCT will offer more options and new hope to cancer patients. Professor Wang Sheng, an internationally renowned neutron scientist, has been deeply engaged in the field for decades, and his team possesses extensive practical experience in the area of compact accelerator-based neutron sources. HBNCT Technology boasts independent intellectual property rights covering the entire BNCT industry chain, from design to manufacturing, aligning well with the current trend of domestic substitution in China. We look forward to the company’s continued growth and strengthening, aiming to become a global benchmark leading the BNCT field and bringing benefits to patients at an early date.’”

Kaitai Capital remains steadfast in its focus on unmet clinical needs, strategically investing across the life sciences and broader healthcare ecosystem. To date, its portfolio in these sectors encompasses oncology, metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, anti-infectives, autoimmune disorders, neuroscience, dermatology, and respiratory diseases, with investments in over 80 companies. Beyond identifying enterprise value, Kaitai Capital is equally committed to delivering sustained value-added services to its portfolio companies, including ongoing financial support, resource integration, talent matchmaking, and post-investment management. Looking ahead, Kaitai Capital will continue to stand alongside its portfolio companies, firmly supporting their value creation efforts and contributing to the upgrading of China’s life sciences and healthcare industries.

Nuoyu Capital is an early-stage venture capital fund founded by investors with extensive experience in the healthcare industry. With a long-term focus on the medical device and digital health sectors, the firm prioritizes early-stage investment opportunities and is committed to identifying entrepreneurs who can genuinely address healthcare challenges through a long-term perspective. The core members of the investment team each possess over 10 years of experience in the healthcare industry, with deep expertise in clinical diagnostics and treatment technologies as well as keen insights into business models. This enables them to provide startups with the most critical growth support, particularly in early-stage project evaluation and post-investment value creation.

Zhongke Star is an early-stage investment institution focused on the “hard tech” sector. As the originator of the “hard tech” concept and a pioneer in hard tech investment, Zhongke Star is committed to building an integrated hard-tech entrepreneurship ecosystem that combines “research institutions + early-stage investment + startup platforms + post-investment services,” providing professional, in-depth, and comprehensive investment, incubation, and financing solutions for technology entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, it explores science popularization and science education, actively assumes social responsibility, facilitates the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, and promotes the deep integration of science with society.

Founded in 2015, Kunlun Capital specializes in investing in technology-driven innovative enterprises. Steered by entrepreneurs who remain actively engaged in frontline startup ventures, Kunlun Capital centers on user value, focuses on cutting-edge technological innovations, and prioritizes investments in leading companies within niche sectors. In recent years, Kunlun Capital has deepened its presence in the healthcare sector, seeking industry partners dedicated to addressing unmet clinical needs. It has successively invested in outstanding companies such as Xinhe Biologics, Keya Medical, Boya Editome, Cytek (NASDAQ: CTKB), Huida Gene, Obio Technology (SH: 688238), Ocanas, Yuesai Biologics, Promab Biotechnologies, Yudao Biologics, Danwang Medical, Saiyuan Biologics, Gravel Therapeutics, RingCode Biosciences, Xunshi Technology, and Liuhe Ningyuan.

Lighthouse Capital, established in 2014, is a rapidly growing industrial investment bank that serves global enterprises with an international perspective. It is committed to facilitating industrial upgrading and development through capital services and ecosystem empowerment. Its current business scope covers private equity financing advisory, mergers and acquisitions and restructuring, asset management, securities underwriting, and industrial development consulting. Since its inception, Lighthouse Capital has assisted over 215 companies in the new economy and industrial conglomerates in completing more than 345 private financing transactions, with a cumulative transaction value exceeding RMB 259 billion. It has also helped more than 50 companies grow into unicorns in their respective fields.