Vathin Medical Completes Hundreds of Millions RMB Series A Funding Led by Sunshine Ronghui Capital, WinX Capital as Exclusive Financial Advisor

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that Hunan Vathin Medical Instrument Co., Ltd. (“Vathin”) recently announced the completion of its Series A financing round, amounting to hundreds of millions of RMB. The round was led by RHC, with existing shareholders Hetang Venture Capital and CITIC Tonghe significantly oversubscribing. WinX Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor.

Vathin is a global leader in single-use endoscopes. Olympus serves as Vathin’s exclusive distributor in the United States, and Vathin maintains close collaborations with world-renowned companies such as Boston Scientific, securing explosive order growth from dozens of developed countries worldwide. It is reported that following this round of financing, Vathin will further expand its production capacity and enrich its product pipeline, with several blockbuster products scheduled for global launch within the next six months.

Endoscopes are diagnostic instruments capable of directly accessing the body’s natural lumens, providing physicians with comprehensive diagnostic information for disease treatment. However, traditional endoscopes have complex structures that are difficult to clean and sterilize thoroughly. Their use across different patients easily leads to cross-infection, causing severe health damage or even death in infected individuals. Relevant studies indicate that endoscopes rank first among medical devices in terms of cross-infection risk.

Thus, single-use endoscopes have taken center stage. Their emergence has not only effectively addressed the issue of cross-infection but also proven more economical than reusable endoscopes in multiple fields when considering factors such as acquisition cost, service life, turnover frequency, sterilization difficulty, and maintenance costs.

From the perspective of the endoscopy industry, global demand for medical endoscopes is substantial. By 2025, sales are projected to reach hundreds of billions of yuan in China and trillions of yuan worldwide. Compared with reusable endoscopes, which often entail high costs of millions of yuan, the shift toward disposable endoscopes has driven a rapid decline in costs. Endoscopes are no longer prohibitively expensive equipment. The transition to disposables will steer the development of endoscopes toward “specialization,” fostering product innovation tailored to the needs of various clinical procedures. Examples include integrating endoscopes with other surgical consumables to create procedure-specific scopes, combining them with surgical robots to advance the evolution of flexible surgical robotics, and expanding their use in emergency settings. These developments will enhance diagnostic and therapeutic efficiency, offering immense potential for clinical applications.

Vathin, established in 2018, specializes in the R&D, manufacturing, and sales of single-use electronic endoscopes. Its product portfolio comprehensively covers respiratory, gastroenterology, proctology, orthopedics, and other specialties. Driven by the dual engines of “strong independent R&D capabilities” and “global market expansion leadership,” and supported by a closed-loop system integrating R&D, product development, and marketing, Vathin has achieved low-cost, disposable-oriented production while maintaining premium global quality standards through breakthroughs in core technologies. This enables specialized product integration and iterative innovation, positioning the company to lead the technological transformation in endoscopy.

The founding team of Vathin hails from industry-leading enterprises and institutions such as Wolf, Stryker, and Mount Sinai Hospital, boasting over a decade of experience in developing the world’s most advanced medical endoscopic products. Leveraging Vathin’s robust foundational R&D capabilities and full-process manufacturing capacity, the company has delivered reusable endoscopes with superior performance at price points comparable to disposable consumables. As its independent R&D capabilities for key technologies and front-end components have strengthened, Vathin’s product portfolio has continued to expand. Coupled with ongoing expansion into overseas markets, the company’s sales revenue experienced explosive growth in the first half of the year.

China’s endoscopy sector is regarded as a “lowland” for domestic substitution. The Chinese endoscopy market, valued at over RMB 25 billion, is dominated by Japanese companies (Olympus, Fujifilm, and Pentax) and European and American firms (Karl Storz, Stryker, and Wolf). Leveraging their technological advantages, these players have rapidly established patent barriers and industry standards, leaving domestic companies struggling to catch up. Domestic endoscopy brands hold a low market share and primarily serve the mid-to-low-end segments; achieving meaningful domestic substitution remains a long and arduous journey.

However, the trend toward disposable endoscopes may accelerate the substitution of imported endoscopes with domestically produced ones. Currently, in the field of single-use endoscopes, Chinese companies represented by Vathin have secured a foothold and possess considerable international competitiveness.

Currently, Vathin’s disposable bronchoscope has obtained FDA registration in the United States, CE certification in Europe, and regulatory approvals in countries including Japan and South Korea, along with ISO 13485 quality management system certification. The product adopts a global sales strategy; in 2020, the company established sales channels in major countries such as the United States, Germany, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, Brazil, India, and South Korea, securing substantial orders. Disposable bronchoscopes also represent a key strategic focus for Olympus, the undisputed leader in the endoscopy field. However, Olympus does not currently engage in independent R&D or manufacturing of this product, relying entirely on Vathin to supply high-quality, premium devices. Leveraging its outstanding technological advantages and mass production capabilities, Vathin has formed a deep partnership with Olympus. Once Olympus launches large-scale promotion of the H-SteriScope, it will create additional opportunities for domestic disposable endoscopes and further strengthen the industry supply chain.

Vathin has built a Class 100,000 cleanroom workshop and an annual production line capable of manufacturing 100,000 single-use bronchoscopes. In China, Vathin has also established a nationwide sales channel network and strategically expanded business models such as early screening for digestive tract diseases, thereby achieving practical implementation of its services in scenarios including early screening and health check-ups.

Following the completion of this financing round, Vathin will continue to adhere to an innovation-driven development strategy, enrich its portfolio of independently developed products, achieve self-reliance and controllability in high-end core technologies, explore segmented and diversified markets in the clinical sector, and accelerate the global expansion of its sales channels.

Regarding this financing round, Vathin’s founderStatement: We extend our gratitude to RHC and our existing shareholders for their trust and continued support, and we thank the WinX Capital team for their industry insights and comprehensive assistance in corporate strategy. Since its inception, Vathin has remained committed to breakthroughs in core technologies. Leveraging our team’s dedicated efforts and technological accumulation, we will launch a series of innovative and differentiated blockbuster products in the future, rapidly expanding into global markets and leading industry trends.

Dr. Guowen Zou, Founder of WinX CapitalStatement: As a global leader in disposable electronic endoscopes, Vathin, under the leadership of its founder and core team, possesses rare in-house R&D capabilities and product iteration strengths within the industry. Meanwhile, it has taken the lead in establishing a global sales distribution network. Since its launch in late 2020, Vathin’s disposable bronchoscopes have achieved explosive order growth, entering dozens of developed countries across Europe, the United States, and Japan, and have received endorsements from top-tier global manufacturers such as Olympus. We are honored to serve as Vathin’s long-term capital partner and believe that Vathin will pioneer a new era in endoscopy, bringing benefits to patients.

Hunan Vathin Medical Instrument Co., Ltd., established in 2018, is headquartered in the Jiuhua High-Tech Industrial Development Zone in Xiangtan, Hunan Province. The company specializes in the research and development, manufacturing, and sales of single-use endoscopes. Its product portfolio primarily consists of sterile endoscopes for departments including pulmonology, gastroenterology, proctology, and orthopedics, and it has secured dozens of patents. The company’s single-use bronchoscopes have obtained FDA registration in the United States, CE marking in Europe, regulatory approvals in Japan and South Korea, as well as ISO 13485 certification. Committed to the medical pursuit of excellence, the company adheres to its core values of “integrity as the foundation, innovation for long-term success.” It remains dedicated to researching, developing, and producing higher-quality single-use endoscopic medical devices, making healthcare more accessible.

RHC, established in January 2015, is among the first private equity fund management companies in China’s insurance industry to be initiated and set up with insurance capital. With assets under management reaching RMB 30 billion, RHC focuses on investments in healthcare and emerging technologies. Its portfolio includes star enterprises such as Mindray Medical, Ruipeng Pet Hospital, Engen Biotech, Lepu Biopharma, Sinotech Pharmaceuticals, Silicon-Based Bionics, Qichensheng, Sunny Dental, Chaoju Eye Care, Kuanteng Medical, TopAll Therapeutics, Vathin, SenseTime, Full Truck Alliance, QingCloud, Enflame Technology, InnoGrit, Qitan Technology, AInnovation, and Moore Threads.

WinX Capital is a leading investment bank in China’s healthcare sector. Its founding team includes five Ph.D. holders in Global Finance from the PBC School of Finance at Tsinghua University, while its frontline professionals boast an average of over 10 years of experience in management, investment, and M&A, with cumulative transaction values exceeding RMB 30 billion. Headquartered in Beijing and Shanghai, WinX Capital serves more than 3,000 active institutional investors and industrial groups. In 2020, it was ranked among the “Top 5 Most Promising Emerging Investment Banks in China” by 36Kr’s WISE 2020 list, and named one of the “Top 4 Best Financial Advisory Firms in Healthcare” for 2020 by Qiming Technology & Xinsheng Chuangfu.