Soluble Microneedle Technology Leader Tianshiwei Completes Tens of Millions of RMB Series A Financing Led by Kairui Ventures

VCBeat (WeChat: vcbeat) has learned that Wuhan Tianshiwei Holdings Co., Ltd. (“Tianshiwei”), a pioneer in China’s soluble microneedle technology platform, has recently completed a Series A financing round worth tens of millions of yuan. The round was exclusively invested by CoWin Ventures, with Bairong Capital serving as the exclusive financial advisor. The proceeds will be used to strengthen the talent team, expand business in the beauty and personal care sector, and increase R&D investment in medical devices.

As a platform-type transdermal drug delivery technology, soluble microneedles overcome the limitations of traditional transdermal patches (low bioavailability) and injectables (inability to provide sustained release), enabling efficient delivery of active ingredients. With advantages such as being painless and minimally invasive, avoiding first-pass metabolism, and enhancing bioavailability, they are widely applicable in both the beauty and personal care sector and serious medical fields. Notably, soluble microneedles were recognized as one of the ten emerging technologies likely to change the world by Scientific American, a prestigious U.S. popular science magazine, in 2020.

Soluble microneedles, as a product format that is more effective than topical application and more convenient than medical aesthetic procedures, are currently experiencing rapid commercial growth in the beauty and personal care sector. By utilizing a microneedle matrix based on materials such as sodium hyaluronate to penetrate the stratum corneum, soluble microneedles enable efficient delivery of active ingredients while possessing dynamic moisture-responsive capabilities, thereby enhancing skincare efficacy.

As the first company in China to file for record and launch soluble microneedle cosmetic products, Tianshiwei has cultivated deep expertise in manufacturing over many years, achieving a leap from 1.0 laboratory-scale technology to 2.0 industrialized production. During this period, the company accumulated numerous patents and technologies related to mass-production processes, engineering equipment, and base materials. In 2022, it completed the construction of its 3.0 automated production line. This new-generation production line offers ample capacity, stable quality, and rapid responsiveness, with a yield rate exceeding 98%.

Since launching its ODM business in 2021, Tianshiwei has achieved industry-leading commercialization progress. The company has partnered with numerous well-known enterprises in the beauty sector, delivered millions of units of finished products, and become the largest domestic manufacturer of soluble microneedle beauty products by shipment volume, while strictly maintaining high-quality delivery standards. In the face of explosive order demands during major promotional events, Tianshiwei consistently demonstrates rapid response capabilities, ensuring a stable supply chain for its clients’ products. Furthermore, through operating its proprietary brand, Li Ling Zhi Mi, and engaging in exchanges with partner brands, Tianshiwei has gained deep insights into the needs of both brand clients and end consumers. By integrating these insights into product research and development, the company has created a “Micocrystal Supermarket” for beauty and personal care products. It offers a diverse range of soluble microneedle products varying in density, base material, and form, delivering multiple benefits such as moisturizing, anti-wrinkle, whitening, and acne treatment to meet the needs of different consumer segments.

Leveraging deep collaborations with premium clients in the beauty and personal care sector, Tianshiwei has continuously refined its manufacturing processes and enhanced production efficiency through economies of scale, thereby laying a solid foundation for the mass production of pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Soluble microneedles possess the dual attributes of pharmaceutical-grade consumer products and consumer-grade pharmaceuticals. They combine the advantages of subcutaneous injection with those of conventional transdermal drug delivery, overcoming the limitations of traditional transdermal systems regarding drug molecular weight and oil-water partition coefficient. Furthermore, compared to subcutaneous injection, they cause less pain and improve patient compliance, demonstrating unique advantages in consumer healthcare applications.

Tianshiwei has developed soluble microneedles into an innovative medical device product that, when combined with topical medications, enhances drug delivery efficiency and addresses clinical pain points associated with traditional transdermal administration methods—such as poor absorption and slow onset of action seen with creams and patches—thereby promoting the application of soluble microneedle technology in serious medical fields. As the first company to facilitate the classification determination of soluble microneedles by the Medical Device Standards Management Center of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), Tianshiwei has pioneered this sector. Currently, Tianshiwei’s Class III soluble microneedle medical devices are poised to commence clinical trials.

The primary challenge in the mass production of dissolving microneedles lies in achieving a uniform and stable manufacturing process. Tianshiwei excels not only in the manufacturing technology of dissolving microneedles but also goes beyond it. The company continuously deepens its research on dissolving microneedle platform technologies and actively expands into the pharmaceutical and vaccine sectors. By leveraging cash flows from cosmetic products to support R&D in serious medical applications, Tianshiwei has proactively established technical reserves in production processes, base materials, height, and morphology of dissolving microneedles for serious medical use. This enables efficient and diverse collaborations with practitioners across various specialized fields, working together to enhance patients’ quality of life through the application of dissolving microneedles.

Regarding this financing round, Dr. Zhou Yajie, Founder of Tianshiwei, stated: “As a pioneer in China’s soluble microneedle technology platform, Tianshiwei has always adhered to its core values of ‘production as the foundation, technology as the essence, and service as the cornerstone.’ Building on the scaled manufacturing of soluble microneedle products in the beauty and personal care sector, we continue to deepen our R&D efforts in this platform technology and are committed to advancing its applications in serious medical fields. Tianshiwei will remain steadfast in its original aspiration to align the improved attributes of soluble microneedles with people’s growing demands for quality of life, working tirelessly day and night.”

Dr. Huang Xin, Managing Partner at CoWin Ventures, stated, “Soluble microneedle technology has garnered significant attention from both academia and industry in recent years, with the medical aesthetics and broader health sector poised to become a key arena for its rapid commercialization. The Tian Shi Wei team is passionate and diligent, boasting extensive engineering expertise refined through actual production orders, coupled with a keen insight into the consumer medical aesthetics market. Leveraging their R&D reserves in microneedle morphology and formulation compatibility, efficient large-scale mass production capabilities, and high-quality quality management services, the team is well-positioned to achieve sustained growth and enduring success in both the consumer health and serious medical fields.”

CoWin Ventures is a Sino-US dual-currency venture capital firm focused on investing in early-stage technology companies, advocating a team culture of equality, transparency, sharing, and innovation. Established in 2009, the firm primarily focuses on healthcare and IT hard-tech sectors, with cumulative assets under management exceeding RMB 5 billion. It has provided financial and resource support to more than 100 outstanding teams and projects. CoWin Ventures has facilitated the successful public listings of over ten high-tech enterprises, including Cytek (NASDAQ: CTKB), Conatus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CNTB), Thrive (NASDAQ: EXAS), InnoLight Technology (300308), MEMSensing Microsystems (688286), Huaxing Zhiyuan (000008), and Aolian Electronics (300585). Meanwhile, it has empowered a large number of companies, such as Taimei Medical Technology, Genetron Health, Huake Jingzhun, and Maxphotonics, to stand out in their respective niche markets.

Bairong Capital is a research-driven financial advisory firm focused on the healthcare sector, dedicated to helping medical enterprises achieve rapid growth through extensive transaction experience and providing investment institutions with insights into valuable investment opportunities through rigorous, in-depth research. Bairong Capital’s areas of focus span multiple healthcare sub-sectors, including healthcare services, medical devices and consumables, in vitro diagnostics (IVD) and precision medicine, biopharmaceuticals, and healthcare informatics. The core team at Bairong Capital hails from top-tier consulting firms, renowned investment banks, and accounting firms.