Chromai Secures Nearly RMB 100 Million Series A Funding Led by Summit Capital, with WinX Capital as Exclusive Financial Advisor

VCBeat has learned that, recently,Chromai Technologies Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Chromai”), a leading enterprise in ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography, announced the completion of its nearly RMB 100 million Series A financing round. The round was led by Huagai Capital, with participation from Aibo Qingshi Fund. Existing investor Yuansheng Venture Capital continued to increase its investment. Kaicheng Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this transaction.

The funds raised in this round will be primarily used for the technological upgrading of Chromai’s fully proprietary liquid chromatography product lines, series-based R&D to expand into new product domains, capacity expansion and lean improvement at its self-built manufacturing facility, as well as the expansion of its global marketing network and the enhancement of its service and application support system.

The wave of localization is inevitable. However, to achieve true autonomy and controllability, Academician Ni Guangnan has summarized five key criteria: 1) Intellectual property rights must be autonomous and controllable; 2) Technological capabilities must be autonomous and controllable; 3) The initiative in development must be autonomous and controllable; 4) The supply chain must be autonomous and controllable; 5) Products must possess domestic qualifications. Core technologies cannot be purchased, and domestic substitution cannot be achieved through OEM rebranding. Only by continuously accumulating independent innovation at the foundational technical level, rigorously improving production quality control, establishing self-owned production lines with lean manufacturing practices, and developing and producing high-quality products can genuine domestic substitution be realized.

China’s annual imports of analytical instruments amount to approximately $100 billion, second only to those of petroleum and semiconductors. Among these, liquid chromatography (LC) is the largest single product category, with a market size reaching tens of billions of yuan. It is extensively applied in chemical analysis and life sciences—including pharmaceuticals, food, biology, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fisheries—as well as in precision medicine and clinical diagnostics. For a long time, China has relied heavily on imported LC instruments, particularly ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) systems, which feature higher technical specifications. As the international landscape grows increasingly complex, the issues of import monopoly over scientific instruments and bottlenecks in core technologies have become more prominent. Since 2018, national policies have vigorously encouraged the domestic substitution of scientific instruments, with LC designated as a top priority. Founded against this backdrop and trend, Chromai is committed to fundamentally breaking the import monopoly. The company maintains full independent control over its core technologies to achieve genuine domestic substitution, while continuously improving efficiency and reducing costs to develop a series of UHPLC products that are internationally competitive and offer exceptional value.

Chromai is the only company in China that has mastered the core technologies for the forward development of Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC). Committed to becoming a leader in domestically produced UHPLC, Chromai aims to resolve the critical bottlenecks facing mid-to-high-end liquid chromatography products. The founding team of Chromai has deep expertise in the industry and has achieved numerous "industry firsts," including: China’s first quasi-UHPLC system; being the earliest in China to fully master UHPLC technology and receive support from major national special projects; China’s first independently developed liquid chromatography system with an automated sampler configuration; and China’s first independently developed database and network-based liquid chromatography workstation.

Chromai has assembled a multidisciplinary team of experts spanning optics, mechanics, structural engineering, electronics, software engineering, automation, embedded systems, analytical chemistry, and clinical laboratory science. Its Beijing-based R&D center boasts one of the industry’s rare complete interdisciplinary integrations, enabling fully independent forward-looking R&D and comprehensive mastery of ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) technology. Building on the active commercialization of its core hard-tech innovations, Chromai continuously drives cross-disciplinary innovation with artificial intelligence, automation, and big data, facilitating rapid product iteration and technological expansion.

In September 2022, Chromai officially launched its self-built Suzhou production base, achieving scaled, modernized, and systematic manufacturing and assembly. Equipped with state-of-the-art production processes and a rigorous quality assurance system, the facility has obtained dual ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 certifications, holds qualifications for the production of Class I and Class II medical devices, and implements comprehensive ERP and lean improvement process systems. This enables a fully autonomous production capability ranging from modules to complete instruments, and from consumables to reagents, ensuring that products are delivered on time and meet stringent quality standards.

In the fields of chemical analysis and life sciences, liquid chromatography is a foundational instrument with a broad market across industries such as biopharmaceuticals, food safety, and environmental monitoring. Chromai has successively launched its Leaps series of ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) systems, including the Leaps 2D, Leaps Bio, Leaps Prep, and Frontier series. This has established the most comprehensive domestically produced liquid chromatography product line in China, fully covering routine analysis, complex sample analysis, rapid analysis, and preparative analysis. Its consumable chromatography columns provide comprehensive coverage ranging from 1.8 μm for UHPLC analysis, to 3–5 μm for routine analysis, and to 7–20 μm for preparative purification. Chromai enables a wide range of industry users to access UHPLC-grade liquid chromatography systems and related products at lower costs.

Precision medicine and clinical diagnostics represent a potential blue-ocean market for liquid chromatography. Targeting the clinical diagnostics sector, Chromai has deployed its Voyager series of fully automated two-dimensional ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) systems for in vitro diagnostics (IVD), the EpoStar series of fully automated sample preparation platforms, and a comprehensive range of supporting reagents and consumables, thereby creating a one-stop, fully automated clinical solution. To date, the company has obtained 13 medical device filings and registration certificates, making its solutions truly simple and easy to use in clinical diagnostics, achieving greater speed, efficiency, quality, and cost-effectiveness, promoting accessible healthcare in China, and meeting the demands of precision medicine. Notably, the Voyager series is the only liquid chromatography system in China that delivers UHPLC-level performance, is built entirely on proprietary core technologies, and has obtained Class II medical device registration.

This year, Chromai has simultaneously advanced its strategic layout across two core business segments, continuously increasing market investment and enhancing customer satisfaction. The company is building a first-class marketing and customer service team, attracting top talent from multinational corporations and leading enterprises such as Waters, Agilent, and Thermo Fisher. Since the official product launch in the second half of 2022, Chromai has secured numerous customer orders and maintained sustained, rapid growth. Looking ahead, Chromai will further expand its global business presence under the “In China for Global” strategy, aiming to reshape the established global liquid chromatography market landscape and bring Chinese intelligent manufacturing to worldwide acclaim.

Chromai Co-founder & CEO Zhang Xin“Chromai expresses its gratitude to Huagai Capital, Aibo Qingshi, and existing shareholder Yuansheng Venture Capital for their strong support in this round of financing, as well as to all shareholders for their continued empowerment and assistance. We are also deeply grateful for the mission bestowed upon Chromai by this era, and for our users’ recognition and support. Chromai’s mission is to make analytical testing more efficient, precise, and user-friendly, while our vision is to become a Chinese technology company driving progress in global health and safety. Committed to continuous innovation and full independent control over core technologies, Chromai aims to achieve genuine domestic substitution and reshape the landscape of the global industry market.”

Zhang Yi, Managing Partner of Huagai Medical's Early-Stage Fund“The statement reads: ‘Huagai Capital has consistently focused on life sciences tool companies that can empower the biopharmaceutical industry. Chromai boasts a team of leading talents in the fields of scientific instruments, analytical testing, and life sciences, demonstrating strong R&D capabilities and a spirit of innovation. Liquid chromatography serves as critical foundational equipment for both biopharmaceuticals and organic analysis, offering broad market prospects. Meanwhile, by integrating ultra-high-performance technologies with complex sample processing techniques, the company has developed multi-dimensional chromatography analysis systems and in vitro diagnostic reagents to support precision medicine. We believe Chromai can further empower the rapid development of China’s biopharmaceutical industry and explore the translational application of life sciences tools in clinical settings.’”

Wang Zicong, Partner at Aibo Qingshi FundIt stated: “Liquid chromatography is widely used in general testing fields such as pharmaceuticals, food, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and clinical medical fields such as vitamin analysis and therapeutic drug monitoring. The founding team of Chromai has long been deeply engaged in the market for scientific instruments such as chromatography, with extensive experience in product development and sales. Targeting the two major sectors of general testing and healthcare, Chromai has taken the lead in launching a series of high-performance liquid chromatography products, achieving independent controllability. This move is expected to break the market monopoly held by imported brands, demonstrating significant growth potential.”

Dr. Lin Yi, Managing Partner of Yuansheng Venture CapitalThe statement read: “Yuan Sheng Capital remains bullish on Chromai’s productization and commercialization capabilities, and is pleased to have participated in early-stage investment to support the company. Chromai is the only company in China that has mastered the key technologies for the forward development of ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC), achieving multiple ‘industry firsts.’ Chromai has simultaneously established a presence in both general testing and clinical diagnostics. The UHPLC systems independently developed and manufactured by the company are expected to be rapidly adopted and promoted, truly realizing domestic self-sufficiency and control over high-end analytical instruments in the fields of chemical analysis, life sciences, and clinical diagnostics.”

Dr. Zou Guowen, Founding Partner of Kaicheng CapitalIt stated: “The scientific instrument industry features substantial depth and requires long-term commitment. Import monopolies and critical technological bottlenecks are severe across the entire value chain, from core components to complete system manufacturing. In recent years, domestic instrument companies have been presented with historic opportunities. However, firms capable of independent, forward-looking R&D of high-performance instruments remain exceedingly scarce. We are highly optimistic about Chromai’s core team. Leveraging over two decades of comprehensive experience in R&D, industrialization, and commercialization, and capitalizing on the technological upgrade trends in ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC), the company is spearheading the drive for domestic substitution of scientific instruments with its stable product performance and superior cost-effectiveness.”