ThinMed Tech Secures Tens of Millions RMB in Pre-A Funding to Pioneer a China-Specific Digital Therapeutics Model
VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that Senmei Medical recently announced the completion of its Pre-A financing round, raising tens of millions of RMB. The round was exclusively led by Changling Capital, a well-known healthcare investment fund, with Yishi Capital serving as the financial advisor. The proceeds from this financing will be primarily used for the commercialization of digital therapeutics (DTx) and team expansion, among other purposes. Previously, in March 2020, Senmei Medical received angel-round investment from Medlinker, a leading internet healthcare company.
Regarding this round of investment, founder Zhang Jing stated, “Senmei’s vision is to establish a Chinese model for digital therapeutics (DTx). This model must be grounded in evidence-based medicine, tailored to China’s national conditions, and ensure credibility, accessibility, and inclusivity. To achieve this, Senmei has chosen the highly challenging yet credible path of official collaboration with top-tier Grade A tertiary hospitals; adopted a top-level design featuring a specialized product matrix pipeline to achieve broad accessibility; and implemented an inclusive strategy with low-priced indications suited to the Chinese market. We believe this is the optimal path that aligns with the direction of China’s healthcare reform and mainstream academic consensus, thereby delivering long-term health benefits to the nation. We extend our gratitude to the many clinical experts for their longstanding trust and support in Senmei, and also thank Changling Capital and Medlinker Group for recognizing Senmei’s philosophy and capabilities.”
Senmei Medical, established in 2018, is a technology-driven enterprise dedicated to the innovative research and development of digital therapeutics in collaboration with leading research-oriented medical institutions. The company’s multi-disciplinary digital therapeutics platforms have been deployed across major cities throughout China, gaining widespread recognition from the mainstream academic community. Its partners include over 100 top-tier academic Grade-A tertiary hospitals, such as the Chinese PLA General Hospital, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Xinqiao Hospital of Army Medical University, Tangdu Hospital of Air Force Medical University, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Renji Hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Zhongda Hospital of Southeast University, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, and the Second Hospital of Lanzhou University.
Senmei Medical launched the “SERSMED Medical-Infra Platform” in 2018, followed by two discipline-specific digital therapeutics clinical application platforms in 2019 and 2020: the “DTx-Clinical for Nephrology” and the “DTx-Clinical for Rheumatology.” The foundational platform comprises multiple highly specialized, general-purpose clinical systems, such as structured pathology/biobank systems, fully structured research project tracking systems, and advanced electronic data capture (EDC) systems. By integrating traditional biomarkers with digital biomarkers, the platform comprehensively supports various types of clinical studies, including randomized controlled trials (RCTs), cross-sectional studies, and real-world studies (RWS). To date, the platform has enrolled and managed hundreds of thousands of patients with nephrology and rheumatologic conditions, achieving a 60% increase in the rate of disease risk factor control compliance and a 50% improvement in clinical workflow and research efficiency. It has innovatively established a bidirectional benefit model that enhances both patient outcomes and medical collaboration.
Leveraging its years of accumulated expertise in specialty-specific Knowledge Graphs and the academic support from leading Grade A tertiary hospitals, Senmei has built a robust pipeline of Digital Therapeutics (DTx) products. Its current patient-focused DTx products under development include the Intake product line, the chronic disease management product line, and the rehabilitation medicine product line.
DTx products at various stages of development cover more than 15 major indications, with a pipeline of over 20 additional indications in reserve. Beyond primary indications, Senmei’s DTx products also provide digital therapeutic solutions grounded in medical principles and mechanisms for dozens of complications or risk factors that arise throughout the entire disease course. “During the clinical development phase of our DTx products, we strictly adhere to the relevant requirements and standards of China’s Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guidelines to ensure that efficacy and safety are thoroughly validated in clinical trials. At the same time, we must consider the clinical significance of post-marketing practice, offering a rich product portfolio across the full disease management continuum to achieve better safety, accessibility, and continuity, rather than merely providing placebo-controlled evidence for individual products,” said founder Zhang Jing.
Founder Zhang Jing stated, “A low-density product pipeline can only sustain a competitive position if it features ‘orphan DTx’ combined with patent protection, but this is unrealistic for software. A high-density product pipeline coupled with an inclusive strategy of low per-unit pricing aligns with national conditions and is more likely to establish long-term competitive advantages. We will primarily focus on several core clinical specialties and launch a series of DTx products, which is somewhat similar to specialized pharmaceutical companies such as Novo Nordisk or Gilead.”
Senmei adheres to a "first-in-class" R&D strategy, maintaining an iterative pipeline that concurrently advances products in commercialization, development, and pre-research stages. Leveraging its foundational platform and academic support from numerous top-tier medical institutions, Senmei is building a proprietary closed-loop system for digital therapeutic R&D. This means Senmei independently manages the entire process—from preclinical development and clinical trials to regulatory approval and market launch—without relying on third-party CROs outside of clinical operations, thereby enabling protected, scalable manufacturing. This capability will serve as a strong foundation for its inclusive access strategy.
Zhang Jing believes that digital therapeutics is an emerging medical technology that enriches clinicians’ intervention toolkit, with its utility primarily lying in optimizing safety, enhancing efficacy, and addressing health economics gaps. As a medical technology with distinct industry-specific characteristics, we hold that its first principle should be values-based. In light of this, we will not overly prioritize traffic-driven commercial sales, as such an approach could significantly deviate from the core value of digital therapeutics and the perspective of health economics, fail to align with mainstream academic consensus, and even entail substantial legal risks.
“We will prioritize the commercialization of the digital therapeutic itself before considering the commercialization of ancillary products, such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, foods for special medical purposes (FSMP), in vitro diagnostics (IVD), and even insurance products,” said Zhang Jing. “We will leverage our proprietary SMO validation system to select partners whose products demonstrate genuine clinical efficacy and health economic value, thereby achieving a triple win for the medical community, patients, and enterprises, and establishing a truly sustainable development model.”
Regarding this round of financing, Mr. Jiang Xiaodong, Founding Partner of Changling Capital, the exclusive lead investor, stated that the digital therapeutics R&D and commercialization pathway being pursued by Senmei represents the optimal model for China as we see it. Their overall strategic thinking strictly follows the Biotech company model, while their execution strategy aligns with TMT (Technology, Media, and Telecom) logic, enabling an integrated approach to target analysis, clinical trial design, and IT product design and development—all essential components of digital therapeutics. Furthermore, founder Mr. Zhang Jing possesses profound industry insights and exceptional learning agility. We are confident that he will successfully lead his team in realizing their envisioned goals.
Mr. Wang Shirui, Founder and CEO of Medlinker, the angel-round investor, stated that Senmei Medical is a product-driven enterprise with a highly executable team. In less than two years, it has gained official recognition from over 100 top-tier academic hospitals, establishing a robust barrier to academic market access. Meanwhile, Mr. Zhang Jing, the founder, has demonstrated rapid cognitive iteration. We look forward to Mr. Zhang leading Senmei to carve out its own promising path in the field of digital therapeutics. Going forward, Medlinker will continue to deepen its collaboration with Senmei, jointly striving to improve the quality of life for patients living with chronic conditions.