Huichuang Medical Secures Nearly RMB 100 Million in Pre-B Financing to Advance fNIRS-Based Diagnosis and Treatment Platform for Brain Disorders

VCBeat (WeChat: vcbeat) has learned at the earliest opportunity that, recently,Danyang Huichuang Medical Equipment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Huichuang Medical”) has completed a Pre-B financing round of nearly RMB 100 million,Jointly invested by Kinghand Capital and Founder Securities Investment. The proceeds from this financing round will be primarily used to further promote sales, expand the market, and upgrade the Company’s near-infrared (fNIRS) brain function diagnostic products, as well as to advance the clinical implementation and trials of transcranial photobiomodulation therapy for brain disorders. Changhai Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this financing round.

Assessment of brain function is a prerequisite for the diagnosis and treatment of brain functional disorders. Currently, there are over 300 million people in China who require related clinical examinations and interventions, broadly covering mental illnesses such as depression and bipolar disorder, developmental disorders including childhood autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and stroke rehabilitation, among others.Market Exceeding RMB 100 BillionIn traditional diagnostic methods, rating scales are highly subjective, while functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) cannot be applied to detection scenarios involving movement or task-based states and is prohibitively expensive, making it unsuitable for widespread clinical use in psychiatry and rehabilitation departments. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) detects changes in hemoglobin concentration by measuring the intensity of diffuse light transmitted through the cerebral cortex, providing a simple and accurate quantitative assessment tool for both clinical applications and basic research in brain science. With high consistency with fMRI, fNIRS is hailed as “wearable fMRI,” enabling “detection during movement” and “detection during speech,” thereby significantly filling the gaps in existing clinical diagnostics for brain science.

Huichuang is the pioneer in the commercialization of domestically produced fNIRS devices, with its products gaining deep recognition in both the scientific research and clinical communities. In terms of scientific research,The company has supported clients in publishing more than 70 SCI-indexed papers in journals such as Nature sub-journals;Clinically,Following the implementation of China’s first expert consensus on near-infrared clinical applications and the launch of the first device with over 100 channels to receive NMPA certification, the company has introduced China’s first portable device to obtain NMPA certification.This model, only the size of an iPad, offers performance comparable to imported desktop units, greatly facilitating its application in outpatient clinics, bedside care, and community settings, while also being better suited for motion detection. Through product line expansion and brand building, the company achieved sales growth of over 200% in 2021.

Huichuang Desktop and Portable fNIRS Brain Functional Imaging Devices

The company has mastered the core underlying technologies spanning the entire process from fNIRS signal detection to result output, breaking the long-standing monopoly of imported equipment from companies such as Hitachi in the fNIRS field.Recently, the project “Development and Clinical Application of Near-Infrared Brain Functional Imaging System,” jointly submitted by the company, Beihang University, and the National Research Center for Rehabilitation Technical Aids, was awarded the Huang Jiasi Biomedical Engineering Award, the highest scientific and technological honor conferred by the Chinese Society of Biomedical Engineering.Among all the award-winning companies this year, Huichuang is the youngest in terms of establishment.

In addition to expanding the indications of existing products in psychiatry, rehabilitation, neurology, and obstetrics & pediatrics departments, the company will also explore the integration of fNIRS with EEG, eye tracking, and transcranial magnetic stimulation, developing fNIRS applications in brain-computer interfaces and digital therapeutics to provide multimodal solutions for the diagnosis and treatment of brain functional disorders.

Huichuang Wins the 2020-2021 Huang Jiasi Biomedical Engineering Award

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) treatment remains a globally recognized challenge. In 2020, the number of AD patients worldwide exceeded 34 million, yet effective pharmacological solutions have long been lacking. Compared with drugs, clinical evidence supporting physical therapies such as photobiomodulation for AD is becoming increasingly robust: photobiomodulation can enhance biological metabolic capacity by boosting mitochondrial activity, and also improve cellular oxygen-binding capacity and activity. Overseas innovative medical companies Vielight and Cognito have pioneered the development of photobiomodulation-based products for AD treatment, with clinical data significantly outperforming pharmaceutical interventions. Notably, Cognito received FDA “Breakthrough Device” designation in 2021, indicating strong market prospects.

Huichuang has accumulated substantial technical expertise and established a robust patent portfolio in the field of phototherapy. Its product design philosophy offers significant advantages over domestic and international competitors, enabling more effective and comprehensive stimulation of brain activity in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD).In addition to its in-hospital products, Huichuang also provides home-based solutions for the 260 million individuals requiring Alzheimer’s disease prevention and treatment., the product is user-friendly, comfortable, and non-invasive, significantly improving treatment adherence among elderly patients.. The company has completed animal studies, with both behavioral and biochemical data demonstrating significant efficacy of phototherapy. Currently, the company is conducting the largest and most rigorous clinical trial on phototherapy for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in China.Preclinical studies have also been conducted in other areas of brain functional disorders.

Professor Wang Daifa, Founder and Chairman of Huichuang Medical, is a leading expert in the field of brain science in China. With nearly two decades of dedicated research in near-infrared brain function imaging, he possesses profound academic expertise and extensive industry experience.，The company’s core technology team hails from top-tier domestic and international institutions, including the California Institute of Technology, Tsinghua University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beihang University, and Tianjin University, demonstrating strong independent innovation capabilities.

As a high-tech company jointly incubated by Beihang University and Danyang, Jiangsu, the company’s development has also been inseparable from the strong support and assistance of leaders at the provincial and municipal levels.

Director Wang Xiaonan of the Danyang Science and Technology Bureau statedHuichuang is another shining pearl in the development of Danyang’s big health industry cluster, following Yuyue Medical and Sinopharm Jiangsu Production Base. The company has obtained 58 independent intellectual property rights, including 32 invention patents and 5 PCT patents. It has participated in and undertaken key national R&D programs (2021), led provincial forward-looking industrial key technology breakthrough projects in Jiangsu (2021), and major science and technology special projects in Zhenjiang (2021). High-end medical equipment is a strategic emerging industry that Danyang City prioritizes and encourages during its 14th Five-Year Plan period. Danyang will continue to increase support for high-end medical technology enterprises. With Huichuang Medical as the core, it will collaborate with leading medical equipment companies in the region to establish a collaborative innovation and joint R&D center for high-end brain science medical equipment.

Professor Wang Daifa, Founder of Huichuang MedicalStatement: We extend our sincere gratitude to Kinghand Capital and Founder Securities Investment for their steadfast support. As an efficient, intuitive, and user-friendly brain imaging technology, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) holds broad application prospects in both scientific research and clinical settings. As a pioneer in promoting domestically produced fNIRS technology, the company will continue to develop new diagnostic paradigms for various brain functional disorders, leading the diagnosis of related conditions into the “quantitative era.” Moving forward, the company will dedicate greater resources to exploring therapeutic applications of fNIRS for brain functional disorders, thereby building a more comprehensive brain science platform.

Zhang Dafeng, Chairman of Kinghand CapitalIt is acknowledged that the brain is the most challenging organ for diagnosis and treatment. Assessing brain structure and function is a prerequisite for determining cerebral functionality and diagnosing neurological disorders. In China, there is a large patient population suffering from brain functional disorders, creating rigid demand for diagnosis and treatment. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), characterized by high spatiotemporal resolution, strong anti-interference capability, excellent portability, and cost-effectiveness, has become one of the mainstream brain imaging technologies. It provides new diagnostic tools for clinical departments such as psychiatry, rehabilitation, pediatrics, and neurology. Huichuang has accumulated substantial expertise and achieved rapid growth in the fNIRS field, with its product line continuously expanding. The company is poised to become a platform enterprise for the diagnosis and treatment of brain functional disorders. Furthermore, it is expected that Huichuang’s phototherapy product for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) will introduce novel therapeutic options and deliver favorable clinical outcomes for patients in China, thereby benefiting numerous AD-affected families at the earliest opportunity.

Wang Keshu, Partner at Changhai CapitalStatement: It is a great honor to serve as HuiChuang’s long-term partner in facilitating its current round of financing. Brain science has become a strategic battleground for clinical applications and biomedical investment. We believe that HuiChuang is one of the companies with the most solid foundation in basic research and the clearest clinical pathways in the field of brain science. We look forward to the company’s continued deep engagement in brain science, leading the rapid development of diagnostic and therapeutic technologies for brain functional disorders in China, and delivering tangible and effective benefits to patients.

Kinghand Capital is a leading private equity investment firm focused on the healthcare sector, dedicated to leveraging capital and industry resources to accelerate the growth of outstanding healthcare enterprises, deliver superior medical products and services to society, and advance human health.

Changhai Capital, established in 2021, is a financial advisory firm specializing in the healthcare and medical sectors, providing companies with in-depth, customized financing strategies and services. The firm’s founding team possesses extensive industry experience in the medical device and in vitro diagnostics (IVD) sectors, having led and participated in the financing rounds of numerous high-profile enterprises, thereby assisting them in achieving rapid growth and maximizing their value.