Leading Exoskeleton Firm Chengtian Technology Secures RMB 100 Million Series A+ Financing Led by Dachen Capital

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that Hangzhou RoboCT Technology Development Co., Ltd. (“RoboCT”), a leading enterprise in the exoskeleton industry, recently announced the completion of its RMB 100 million Series A+ financing round. The round was led by Fortune Capital, with participation from Essence Securities and Poly Capital. Existing investor BlueRun Ventures continued to follow on, while Momentum Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this financing. The new funds will be used to enhance the group’s core operational capabilities, maintain its commercial leadership, expand its global business footprint, and advance in-depth collaborations with top-tier international research and clinical institutions. Meanwhile, RoboCT will increase investments in products, talent, technology, and supply chain, enrich its consumer-facing product portfolio, promote its AI-powered consumer internet exoskeleton technology service platform, solidify its industry leadership, and fulfill its corporate mission of making robotic services accessible to everyone.

Previously, RoboCT was the first innovative medical robotics company in the industry to obtain an NMPA registration certificate for lower-limb exoskeleton robots with indications covering central nervous system disorders (including patients with paraplegia, hemiplegia, and cerebral palsy). In 2021, it successively received market launch approvals for eight models across three categories in this field. In the same year, it was included in KPMG’s “Top 50 Private Rehabilitation Healthcare Enterprises in China” report and received the “Leading Rehabilitation Technology Enterprise Award.” In 2021, RoboCT won more than ten awards in the medical rehabilitation sector, including five international design awards such as the Red Dot Award, iF Design Award, and Golden Pin Design Award, and holds over 300 independent intellectual property rights.

Currently, the acceleration of population aging, the rising number of individuals with chronic diseases, heightened public awareness of rehabilitation, and government policy guidance and support are driving China’s rehabilitation industry into a period of rapid growth. There is a substantial gap between China’s clinical resources in rehabilitation medicine and those of developed countries, presenting a golden opportunity for disciplinary development.

Exoskeleton robots serve as a significant and effective supplement to rehabilitation and elderly care services, offering substantial potential social and economic value.

RoboCT has achieved independent research and development and in-house production of core components, functional modules, and intelligent algorithms, thereby enhancing its cost control and product management capabilities. RoboCT has also made breakthroughs in its business model by innovating the “Rehabilitation as a Service” model.

In the next phase, RoboCT will focus on the following three areas:

RoboCT specializes in the fields of rehabilitation and elderly care, aiming to provide intelligent products and solutions for medical and wellness institutions as well as individual users by integrating human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence, data analytics, and cloud computing. Its pioneering “Rehabilitation as a Service (RaaS)” model, leveraged through its digital rehabilitation cloud platform, delivers a full-cycle, all-scenario, and fully digital rehabilitation experience. In the second half of 2021 alone, RoboCT deployed its innovative business model in over 200 hospitals, covering more than 80% of China’s provincial-level administrative regions, with cumulative usage exceeding 100,000 sessions. Following the completion of its latest funding round, RoboCT will continue to deepen partnerships and expand its reach, maintaining its leading position in the industry.

To ensure stable and effective market-oriented expansion, RoboCT will strengthen its group-level operational capabilities, build an open B2C consumer operations platform, expand its product portfolio, and cultivate a rehabilitation ecosystem. Leveraging its self-built GMP-compliant manufacturing facility with comprehensive standardized systems, RoboCT has established a robust supply chain for exoskeleton robots, granting it absolute advantages in cost control, quality assurance, and supply chain management. Furthermore, RoboCT is currently the only company in the industry with mass production capabilities for exoskeletons; its annual installation capacity of 1,000 units has reached an industry-leading level. The product portfolio boasts strong scalability: vertically, it can cover the full spectrum of health and elderly care scenarios; horizontally, it can extend into applications in transportation, entertainment, industrial, and safety sectors, laying a solid foundation for B2C consumer-grade exoskeleton services.

Technological innovation is the foundation of growth for technology enterprises, and RoboCT possesses unique professional advantages in this regard. In addition to having 100% self-developed and self-manufactured world-class core components, the project “Research and Development and Application of Neurofeedback-Guided Interactive Exoskeleton Rehabilitation Robots,” led by RoboCT, was approved as a key provincial R&D special project under the 2022 “Vanguard Plan.” Breakthroughs achieved through this project will also help RoboCT make significant progress in the integration of exoskeleton and brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies. By organically integrating BCI technology with RoboCT’s underlying exoskeleton technologies, exoskeleton users can enjoy an immersive active rehabilitation experience.

Building rehabilitation exoskeleton services is RoboCT’s first step, and a crucial one for its future development. We look forward to RoboCT leveraging its exoskeleton rehabilitation robots as a breakthrough point to further enrich its product portfolio, empowering elderly care and rehabilitation through technology, and contributing to the “Healthy China” initiative. By conveying love and dreams through technology, we aim to ultimately ensure that everyone can benefit from robotic services.

Li Jiangfeng, Healthcare Investment Partner at Fortune CapitalIt states: The "Healthy China 2030" Planning Outline points out that prevention and rehabilitation should be combined to achieve "chronic disease health management for the entire population across the full life cycle." There is a significant gap between China's clinical resources in rehabilitation medicine and those of developed countries, presenting a golden opportunity for disciplinary development. Building on the technical foundation provided by Harbin Institute of Technology and Harbin Engineering University, RoboCT has established a cohesive and highly adaptable entrepreneurial team. The company has achieved independent research, development, and manufacturing of key components at the foundational technology level, granting it greater freedom and initiative in cost control. We look forward to RoboCT using its exoskeleton rehabilitation robots as a breakthrough point to continue enriching its product matrix, leveraging technology to support elderly care and rehabilitation, benefiting individuals with functional impairments and mobility limitations, and contributing to the construction of a "Healthy China."

Li Fan, Managing Director at Anxin Investment: Against the backdrop of China’s vast population base and its rapidly aging society, traditional rehabilitation and elderly care methods are unable to meet the surging demand, resulting in a severe supply shortage within the industry. Recently, with the frequent introduction of supportive policies, China’s rehabilitation and elderly care sector is gradually entering a golden period of development. Exoskeleton robots can effectively help patients with stroke, paraplegia, and cerebral palsy, as well as disabled elderly individuals, regain walking ability, achieve independent living, and reintegrate into society, thereby alleviating the societal burden. As an important and effective supplement to the supply of rehabilitation and elderly care services, exoskeleton robots hold immense potential social and economic value. However, due to high technical barriers and an immature supply chain, exoskeleton robots have not yet been widely applied in the field of rehabilitation and elderly care. Leveraging its long-term technological accumulation in robotics, RoboCT has mastered the full-chain underlying technologies of exoskeletons, achieving a disruptive reduction in costs and an excellent wearing experience, thus making it possible for exoskeletons to enter households across the country in the future.

Cao Wei, Partner at BlueRun Ventures: The health and wellness market offers immense growth potential. RoboCT has achieved disruptive innovation in the cost structure of clinical-grade products through its proprietary, closed-loop technology system, while also driving innovation in the commercial deployment models of the exoskeleton robot industry. RoboCT’s “Rehabilitation-as-a-Service” model has significantly enhanced service efficiency and quality in customer scenarios, and its ultra-low usage threshold has enabled the large-scale adoption of exoskeleton rehabilitation robots within hospital settings. We are highly optimistic about RoboCT’s future development potential.

Li Wenxuan, Deputy General Manager of Poly Capital: Since 2019, China has entered a stage of deep aging. Changes in population structure have driven the upgrading and iteration of health management and traditional wellness practices, making the demand for rehabilitation services increasingly prominent. RoboCT focuses on neurological rehabilitation. Leveraging the founding team’s decade-long technical expertise in robotics, the company has developed multiple series of rehabilitation exoskeleton robots. With strong supply chain control capabilities and an innovative “Rehabilitation as a Service” business model, we believe RoboCT will benefit more patients with neurological disorders, disabilities, and functional impairments.

Fortune Capital is one of the most influential venture capital firms in China. It has been ranked among Zero2IPO’s “Top 50 Best Venture Capital Firms in China” for 21 consecutive years, securing the first place in 2012 and 2015, and maintaining a top-three position among domestic VC firms over the past decade. Adhering to a long-term, professional, and value-oriented investment philosophy, Fortune Capital has developed a dual-drive strategy of “industry + region” through years of accumulation. Driven by research, it focuses on sectors including information technology, intelligent manufacturing, energy conservation and environmental protection, healthcare, consumer goods and enterprise services, culture and media, and defense industry, with investments spanning early-stage, growth-stage, and mature-stage companies. Geographically, it has established a nationwide investment and service network anchored by its three major headquarters in Shenzhen, Beijing, and East China, complemented by branches in 16 key economic cities across the country.

Essence Securities Investment Co., Ltd. is the proprietary equity investment platform of Essence Securities. Officially established in 2019, the company has developed distinctive investment capabilities in innovative medical devices, military industry and high-end manufacturing, carbon neutrality, enterprise services, and consumer sectors. Additionally, acting as a professional institutional investor, the company serves as a Limited Partner (LP) to invest in and allocate equity investment funds. Guided by technological innovation and customer needs, and adhering to principles of compliance and market-oriented operations, the company leverages complementary support from Essence Securities in terms of corporate branding, client resources, and research capabilities, striving to become a premier investment platform in China.

Poly Capital is a private equity fund management company jointly established by Poly Developments and Holdings Group and Poly Investment Holding Co., Ltd. The company commenced operations in 2015 in the Hengqin Free Trade Zone in Zhuhai and currently maintains branches in Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. Since its inception, Poly Capital has adhered to the corporate philosophy of “Value-Oriented, Steady and Committed Execution.” By innovating unique methodologies and prioritizing investor value returns, the company leverages its robust analytical capabilities and keen market insights to develop innovative project investment models. Deeply engaged in industrial capital, Poly Capital is committed to “serving a better life through technology investment.” Guided by the principles of specialization, refinement, distinctiveness, and innovation, it focuses primarily on three key sectors: construction technology, industrial enterprise services, and healthcare and elderly care.