Zilian Technology Files IPO Prospectus: Founded by Ex-Qualcomm and Broadcom Chip Engineers, Empowering Over 300 Medical Device Companies with 3M+ IoT Units Delivered

“Newly developed medical devices now come standard with sensor technology, data transmission technology, and protocol processing technology. In the past, these features were optional. If a medical device lacks IoT capabilities today, it feels somewhat incomplete,” said Tan Lintao, founder of ZiLian Electronic Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as ZiLian Tech).

Indeed, with advancements in computing power, sensing technologies, and internet-related technologies, coupled with China’s formal inclusion of the Internet of Things (IoT) as one of the five national emerging strategic industries through policy measures in 2009, the entire IoT sector, including the Healthcare IoT, has entered a phase of rapid development.

However, in Lin Tao’s view, the healthcare IoT industry in China truly “gained momentum” after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The reason is that during the pandemic prevention and control period, the value of healthcare IoT was fully recognized—from equipment and personnel positioning to operational management, from reducing the workload of medical staff to alleviating overload on the healthcare system and minimizing contact between patients and healthcare providers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare IoT played an indispensable role in responding to public health emergencies.

Zilian Technology was established seven years before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.After a decade of development, Acloudear has built an IoT ecosystem spanning smart terminals, cloud platforms, and application platforms, and has established partnerships with more than 300 medical device companies, including Mindray, Medtronic, MicroPort Medical, and Nihon Kohden.

At its inception, Zilian Technology, like most domestic IoT enterprises, chose to enter the smart home sector. However, as industry practices deepened and through a serendipitous twist of fate, Zilian Technology’s journey into the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) officially began...

Tan Lintao, founder of Zilian Technology, is well-versed in the Internet of Things.

The founder previously worked at Qualcomm, a global leader in wireless technology innovation, and Broadcom, a global leader in wired and wireless communication semiconductors, where he was engaged in chip design and development as well as the development of IoT-related technologies.

In 2013, Zilian Technology was established.However, as previously mentioned, at its inception, Zilian Technology did not enter the healthcare IoT sector but instead chose the smart home market. It soon became apparent to Zilian Technology that, for various reasons, the smart home sector demanded substantial financial strength from enterprises. Moreover, Tan Lintao, then at the helm, felt that his academic background from the University of Science and Technology of China, combined with the technical development experience he had accumulated at Qualcomm and Broadcom, was somewhat akin to “using a sledgehammer to crack a nut” in the context of the smart home industry.

This led Tan Lintao to ponder, “Does the smart home industry really need these technologies?” and also sparked his idea to pivot to a different entrepreneurial track.

By a stroke of luck, a medical device company in Jiangsu Province approached Tan Lintao, seeking Zilian Technology’s assistance in addressing technical development challenges related to its wireless pump IoT segment. After Zilian Technology helped the company resolve these IoT-related issues, another fortuitous opportunity arose, leading to a connection with Mindray Medical.

Subsequently,Zilian Technology has been deeply cultivating the healthcare IoT sector—the healthcare business segment now accounts for an increasing proportion of Zilian Technology’s overall operations, reaching 80%, with the remaining 20% comprising smart city and smart industrial solutions.

As for the reasons behind his firm commitment to the healthcare IoT sector after two serendipitous opportunities, apart from Tan Lintao’s belief that dedicating himself to the healthcare cause brings a greater sense of value, it is also inseparable from his observations of the healthcare IoT landscape.

According to the "White Paper on the Internet of Things in Healthcare (2020)," China's healthcare institutions invested RMB 37.54 billion in the Medical IoT in 2018. The market size for medical IoT in Chinese healthcare institutions is projected to reach RMB 50.55 billion in 2020 and RMB 67.97 billion in 2022, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.1% from 2018 to 2022.

As the market size expands, investment and financing activities have emerged in the primary market. According to the “White Paper on Internet of Things in Healthcare (2020),” a total of 106 transactions occurred in China’s healthcare IoT sector from 2018 to July 2020, with total financing amounting to approximately RMB 17.6 billion.

Furthermore, financing rounds are concentrated at Series B and earlier, with Seed through Series B accounting for as high as 65.3%, indicating that domestic medical health IoT companies are still largely in their early growth stages.

A recent review of financing and investment data from Artery Orange (Dongmai Cheng) by VCBeat revealed that the aforementioned trend largely persisted through 2023. According to rough statistics compiled by VCBeat (based on searches using “Internet of Things” as a keyword in the Artery Orange database), there were 41 financing and investment deals in the healthcare IoT sector between August 2020 and March 2023. Of these, 30 disclosed their funding rounds, with deals ranging from Angel to Series C accounting for as high as 90% of the total. Specifically, there were 3 Angel rounds, 6 Pre-A rounds, 6 Series A rounds, 5 Series A+ rounds, 4 Series B rounds, 2 Series B+ rounds, and 1 Series C round. This indicates that, as of now, most domestic healthcare IoT companies remain in their early stages, with no absolute market leader having emerged, thereby resulting in a relatively favorable competitive landscape.

For Zilian Technology, this presents a prime opportunity to pursue growth. So, what is Zilian Technology’s development strategy? And what core competencies has it cultivated over the past decade?

If one were to detail Zilian Technology’s core competencies, its robust product pipeline would undoubtedly be among them.

VCBeat has learned that,Zilian Technology offers a one-stop, end-to-end solution encompassing upstream data acquisition, device connectivity, data transmission (between devices or from devices to the cloud), cloud-based data processing, mobile application development, and data security.

Specifically,Zilian Technology has established a diversified product portfolio encompassing IoT intelligent components (chip modules/controllers), intelligent terminals (gateways/bridges/sensors), middleware suites, cloud access technologies, and application technologies. Its products are widely applied across various specialized segments of the medical device industry, including life support equipment, vital signs monitoring devices, therapeutic equipment, pump-based devices, rehabilitation instruments, point-of-care testing (POCT), medical imaging systems, and wearable medical devices. Furthermore, related solutions have been successfully implemented in scenarios such as telemedicine, mobile health, and the intelligent management of medical assets.

“Based on in-depth research into the diverse needs of various hospital scenarios, ZiLian has been continuously strengthening the ‘depth’ of its product portfolio, which is one of ZiLian’s core advantages,” said Tan Lintao.It is through the continuous, day-by-day refinement and resolution of each requirement that Ziilian Technology has gradually outlined a comprehensive panorama of intelligent technologies based on full-lifecycle health.

Beyond enhancing the product’s “depth,” Tan Lintao, who originally came from a background in chip development and design, naturally places great emphasis on the performance of Zilian Technology’s products.

According to the introduction, key performance indicators for evaluating healthcare IoT products include product stability, data transmission security, real-time performance, low power consumption, and system compatibility. Zilian Technology has made significant efforts to optimize each of these core metrics.

Taking data transmission security as an example,As healthcare institutions place increasing emphasis on data security, a growing number of them require that medical devices with IoT capabilities must comply with relevant security protocols before being allowed to connect to their systems. AndZilian Technology's Wi-Fi product series have all passed EAP security protocol certification.

Consequently, an increasing number of medical device manufacturers are adopting ZiLian Technology as their new IoT technology provider to meet healthcare institution requirements and align with future digital security policies.

Whether it is the richness of the product line or the high performance of the products, both are inseparable from the strong R&D team behind them.

According to Tan Lintao, the R&D team at Lian is largely composed of professionals with several years of development experience in IoT-related fields such as chips, integrated circuits, algorithms, and network protocols. Furthermore, all product connectivity implementations adhere to telecommunications industry standards, thereby safeguarding the safety and stability of medical devices.

In addition to products, we may also consider other criteria for measuring the strength of an IoT enterprise—production and delivery capabilities as well as market capabilities are certainly indispensable.

According to VCBeat,Zilian Technology currently operates six SMT production lines, with an annual capacity of 1.8 million module controllers and 700,000 smart terminal products, achieving a total product delivery volume of over 3 million units.

In the interview, Tan Lintao also revealed that,In the future, Zilian Technology will also build its own factory this year to strengthen production and delivery capabilities. It is expected that after the new factory is completed, the delivery volume will be 2-3 times that of the current stage.

Currently, Zilian Technology still primarily sells its products through a distributor network. However, in the near term, the company is planning to establish an online direct-sales channel for its finished IoT products, expanding its sales channels through partnerships with e-commerce platforms such as JD.com and Douyin. “The future will undoubtedly belong to the younger generation. We must maintain an open mindset and actively embrace new marketing methods and channels that resonate with young people.”

Looking back on his entrepreneurial journey, Lin Tao was filled with emotion: “Although Zilian’s entry into the medical Internet of Things (IoT) sector was driven by two fortuitous coincidences, my team and I have remained steadfast in our commitment to this field. Beyond the promising prospects of healthcare IoT, it delivers positive value to human life and health. This is far more meaningful than the mere pursuit of commercial profits.”