Synapsor Files for IPO: How This AI-Powered Medical Wearables Startup Is Breaking Through in a Market Dominated by Tech Giants

In the era of data-driven healthcare, wearable devices, as one of the primary data interfaces, are receiving increasing attention.

Wearable medical devices refer to portable electronic medical devices that can be worn directly. Supported by sensors, wireless communication technologies, and software, they can perceive, record, and analyze human health conditions, and even intervene in or treat diseases.

Wearable medical devices are characterized by four key features: wearability, mobility, sustainability, and interactivity. With the aging population and the expanding number of individuals with chronic diseases, market demand for wearable medical devices continues to grow, thereby broadening their application prospects. According to “2019Overview of China's Wearable Medical Device Industry》Data, the market size of China's wearable medical devices will reach 18.92 billion yuan in 2023.

However, in this realm known as “boundless imagination,” tech giants such as Apple, Google, and Samsung have successively launched consumer-grade wearable medical devices. Major pharmaceutical and medical device companies, including Pfizer, Medtronic, and Johnson & Johnson, have also begun to enter the wearable medical device sector, fostering the development of professional-grade wearable medical devices.

The vast market is already surrounded by giants; how can innovative companies break through? Synapsense, an AI healthcare company specializing in intelligent chronic disease management technologies and founded in late 2019, has provided its own answer.

Compared with traditional medical devices, wearable medical devices have obvious application advantages, mainly manifested in: real-time monitoring of user health status through a lightweight form, effectively reducing medical costs, and helping to accumulate big data on health and medicine in multi-scenario modes.

As early as 2015, the Apple Watch Series 4 released by Apple featured a single-lead ECG, enabling early monitoring of “atrial fibrillation” and “sinus arrhythmia.” Today, smartwatches with ECG functionality are offered by tech companies such as Huawei, Apple, OPPO, and Huami.

In the coming years, smartwatches will continue to strive for breakthroughs in monitoring new health metrics, providing disease surveillance and management for a broader population of patients with heart failure and chronic conditions, thereby offering immense growth potential.

“However, there are still significant differences between consumer-grade and medical-grade wearable devices in terms of usage scenarios and the necessity of requirements. The higher precision and data accuracy required in medical settings establish higher technical barriers for medical-grade wearables, while also creating more rigid and meaningful data demands.”Wang Zhihua, CEO of Shennapusintroduced.

Traditional medical wearable devices are largely limited to single-point data acquisition, low sampling frequencies, poor data accuracy, suboptimal user experience, and limited operational convenience. Consequently, users have little incentive to transition from in-hospital monitoring with clinical-grade equipment to out-of-hospital smart medical wearables. Meanwhile, more convenient and reliable intelligent, innovative products are often prohibitively expensive, resulting in limited accessibility.

As one of the gateways to mobile health, wearable medical devices must address the aforementioned pain points not only through hardware breakthroughs but, more critically, by leveraging advanced technologies to enhance user stickiness. By fully utilizing health and medical big data collected via hardware and conducting in-depth data analysis and mining, a new data-driven healthcare model can be established.

One of the advantages of Shennapus lies in its more systematic approach, rather than merely pursuing hardware innovation and breakthroughs.The entire system, from hardware to software and algorithms, is entirely developed in-house.“This way, all user needs can be met, from data monitoring and acquisition, through data analysis and interpretation, to predictive early warning and management guidance,” said Wang Zhihua.

The Path of Independent R&D Is Not Easy: Shennapus Relies on Strong R&D Capabilities。Dr. Wang Zhihua, Founder and CEO, earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Oxford and his Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Cambridge, possessing an interdisciplinary academic background. He has published more than ten papers in top-tier journals related to electronics and artificial intelligence. His doctoral supervisor, Professor Andrew Markham, has also joined the R&D team at Shennapus as a core advisor.

In addition, the company has assembled a team of researchers from China’s “Thousand Talents Plan,” top-tier talent from prestigious institutions such as the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, the University of California, Washington University in St. Louis, and Tsinghua University, as well as engineers from leading consumer electronics companies including Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi, Honor, and Goertek. Shennapus also maintains a long-term, in-depth strategic partnership with the Institute of Medical Engineering Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

However, in the face of fierce market competition, technological innovation remains a key variable for sustaining competitive advantage. This is particularly true for China’s domestic high-end medical device industry, which suffers from relatively weak innovation capabilities and urgently needs to break through the current innovation landscape.

According to Wang Zhihua, Shennapus is guided by technological innovation centered on mastering core source technologies, striving toPerformance Metrics, User Experience, and Cost-EffectivenessIn every aspect, they comprehensively outperform imported products, truly achieving a technological breakthrough in high-end domestically produced medical devices.

The name Synapsor is a fusion of the English words “synapse” and “sensor,” symbolizingShennapus’ Two Core Technological Domains: Neural Networks and Biosensors.

In the realm of flexible chip innovation, Shennapus employs nanoscale fabrication techniques for medical products, disrupting traditional manufacturing processes in the healthcare sector and enabling exponential gains in precision. And what she refers to asHigh-end does not equate to the traditionally perceived notion of being expensive, but ratherExperience upgrades, enhanced precision, and improved quality control driven by technological advancements: products that offer greater inclusive value and premium advantages.

Leveraging its in-house R&D and innovation capabilities, Shennapus has also exercised rigorous consideration in disease selection. The company focuses on the application value of data itself, the level of difficulty for user comprehension, statistical complexity, the accuracy of AI-driven analysis and organization, as well as clinical value, while fully accommodating users’ needs for data interpretation and analysis across various scenarios.

“Take the once highly publicized ECG feature as an example. Data retrieval is inherently complex, and the reliability of AI-based interpretation remains questionable. Moreover, even if users obtain the data, they struggle to comprehend the patterns of change, ultimately necessitating a return to the hospital for physician consultation. Consequently, the service loop cannot be fully closed,” said Wang Zhihua.

Shennapus focuses on data monitoring for a variety of common chronic disease biomarkers. Leveraging AI algorithms as its core processing and computational engine, the company provides optimal, cost-effective high-tech medical products to help more doctors and patients improve disease management efficiency and establish routine chronic disease management mechanisms. In the future, Shennapus aims to serve 50% of chronic disease patients across China in the realm of health management.

In 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and nine other departments jointly issued the “14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Medical Equipment Industry,” which designated seven key areas for priority development, including monitoring and life support equipment and maternal and child health equipment. Within the development of “monitoring and life support equipment,” the plan calls for breakthroughs in medical-grade wearable monitoring devices based on novel sensors, new materials, microfluidic controllers, specialized medical chips, artificial intelligence, and big data.

As the policy and market advantages of smart wearable devices in the healthcare sector become increasingly prominent, the scale of the medical wearable device industry is also rising rapidly. According to “2019Overview of China's Wearable Medical Device Industry》Data，The market size of China's wearable medical device industry is expected to reach RMB 18.92 billion by 2023, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.8%.. As the industry accelerates and public health awareness rises, users’ expectations for medical wearable devices will continue to increase.

“Although the market is currently flooded with a wide variety of health monitoring devices, users are less concerned about the form factor and more focused on whether the monitoring data is actionable and holds medical value, such as guiding medication or disease management. Only such high-end products can meet users’ rigid demand for medical-grade data, and the higher regulatory approval threshold can significantly raise industry standards,” said Wang Zhihua.

Wang Zhihua also shared with VCBeat the Chinese meaning of “Shennapus.”“It stands for deep insight, talent acquisition, inclusive benefit, and thoughtful innovation. We deeply understand and integrate the developmental patterns, pain points, and challenges of cutting-edge technologies in the healthcare industry. By recruiting top global talent, we develop high-tech products that achieve technological breakthroughs, benefit the general public, and remain affordably priced. Rather than creating ‘me-too’ products, we strive to surpass international competitors and deliver first-in-class innovations.”

“The AI healthcare sector is inevitably characterized by significant technical challenges, high industry barriers, and a coexistence of opportunities and risks. Yet, precisely due to the rigor inherent in medical practice and the critical national demand for precise disease control, we see a future with stable prospects. At Synapse Intelligence, our corporate value and aspiration lie in steadfastly doing ‘the right but difficult things,’ accumulating strength over time for sustained breakthroughs,” added Wang Zhihua.

It is understood that several of Shennapus’s core products are currently undergoing nationwide multicenter clinical trials and regulatory registration, with market promotion expected to commence next year.

In the long run, Shennapus will gradually expand from vertical products to establishing a biosensing platform for chronic disease monitoring, broadening its monitoring scope and enriching its product portfolio. This will create a closed-loop service ecosystem encompassing out-of-hospital monitoring data, medication/clinical guidance, and disease management, ultimately benefiting more patients.