TACRO Secures Tens of Millions in A+ Funding to Advance CRO+CDO Strategy

VCBeat has learned that Wuhan Tacro Technology Co., LTD. (hereinafter referred to as "Tacro Technology"), a leading provider of medical device technology transfer services in China, recently completed its A+ round of financing, amounting to tens of millions of RMB. The round was led by Zheshang Venture Capital, with participation from the Xiaoshan Science and Technology City Industrial Development Fund and the Baiying Fund of the Wuhan Institute of Biotechnology.

Mr. Zeng Jianhui, Founder of Wuhan Tacro Technology Co., LTD, stated: “The funds raised in this round will be primarily allocated to two areas. First, we will deepen our investment and strategic layout in the CRO sector, with a sharper focus on key clients and the application of new technologies in medical devices. We aim to enhance the support capabilities of our Wuhan headquarters and the technical prowess of our Testing and Research Institute, thereby strengthening our professional expertise and client brand loyalty to achieve strategic cooperation and mutual growth with our clients. Second, we will establish Tacro’s National Technology Transfer Center (CDO) and East China CRO Center in Xiaoshan, Hangzhou. Leveraging our accumulated expertise in medical device technology transfer and our explorations in the CDMO space in recent years, Tacro Technology will capitalize on the advantages of high-end talent, industrial clusters, and the ecosystem in the Yangtze River Delta region. This will enable us to enhance our capabilities and systems for ‘translating clinical needs into technical solutions,’ strategically lay out medical device intellectual property, remove barriers between ‘clinical practice, technology, and commercialization,’ and create a closed-loop value system.”

Previously, Tacro Technology secured two rounds of financing from Tsinghua Tus-Holdings Venture Capital (now known as Qingkong Yinxing) and Matrix Partners China in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Wuhan Tacro Technology Co., LTD. was established in 2011 as a technology transfer service platform for medical devices, becoming the first company in its industry to be listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ). Headquartered in Wuhan Optics Valley Bio-city, Tacro provided investment promotion technical support for the medical device industrial planning of Optics Valley Bio-city. The company has received various policy supports from the Wuhan East Lake High-tech Development Zone and has been honored with numerous titles, including “Optics Valley 3551 Talent,” “Medical Device Public Service Platform of East Lake High-tech Development Zone,” “Demonstration Institution for SME Services in Wuhan,” “Provincial Demonstration Institution for Technology Transfer,” and “National-level Makerspace.” Additionally, it has received funding from the Ministry of Science and Technology’s “Science and Technology Innovation Fund” and “Torch Program.”

Yang Da, Marketing Director of Tacro Technology, stated: “The company serves as a founding member, leading entity, or board member in several prominent industry associations, including the Clinical Trial Branch of the China Medical Devices Industry Association, the Ultrasound Branch of the China Medical Equipment Association, the Beijing Advanced Medical Equipment Industry Innovation Alliance, the Editorial Committee of Medical Equipment Journal, the Hubei Society for Clinical Evaluation of Drugs and Medical Devices, and the Industrial Technology Innovation Alliance for Infectious Disease Diagnostic Reagents. Furthermore, it maintains strong collaborative relationships with industry associations and industrial parks in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Changsha, and Chongqing.”

In addition, Wuhan Tacro Technology Co., LTD. was the first in the industry to achieve dual certification under the ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 systems, participated in the development of multiple medical device registration guidelines and industry standards issued by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), and serves as a second-party audit institution for drug regulatory authorities in various regions.

Wuhan Tacro Technology Co.,LTD. stated: “The company specializes in providing integrated solutions for medical device enterprises, including clinical trials, regulatory consulting, testing and inspection, contracted R&D, advisory services, and training. To date, Tacro has earned the trust and recognition of more than 1,000 medical device manufacturers and partners. In addition, Tacro established the Medical Device Testing Research Institute in Wuhan in 2018 and obtained China Metrology Accreditation (CMA) qualification. The institute comprises five major laboratories covering electromagnetic compatibility, electrical safety, environmental testing and reliability, packaging validation, and microbiology. It provides comprehensive R&D guidance, testing, and corrective action services for medical laboratory equipment, digital imaging devices, optical instruments, patient monitoring equipment, and certain non-medical device products.”

Publicly available information indicates that the CRO/CDMO industry in China started relatively late, especially for medical devices. Currently, the industry is mainly dominated by low-value-added intermediary services, with limited involvement in technology and product development. The industry concentration is low, and there are few leading enterprises pursuing platform-based development.

On the other hand, with the rapid development of the medical device industry, national regulatory authorities have intensified inspections on compliance and legality, leading to increasingly higher demands from medical device companies for CRO/CDMO services.

Based on this, Wuhan Tacro Technology Co.,LTD. has earned high praise from numerous clients and partners for its professional services and its original commitment to standardizing industry development, increasingly gaining favor among large enterprises.

Currently, a combination of factors—including tighter regulatory oversight and lifecycle management that have increased the operational complexity for medical device companies’ in-house operations, government guidance encouraging enterprises to procure CRO/CDMO services to enhance regulatory compliance, the nationwide rollout of the Medical Device Registrant system, and the implementation of the new Regulations on the Supervision and Administration of Medical Devices—is driving service providers in the CRO/CDMO sector toward greater specialization and higher standards of excellence.

Based on this, Wuhan Tacro Technology Co.,LTD. achieves more specialized and higher-level CRO/CDMO services by introducing various talents, establishing a talent development system, and improving management standards and business capabilities.

Specifically, through a decade of development and accumulation, Wuhan Tacro Technology Co.,LTD. has built a professional team of nearly 200 members, including over 40 individuals with master’s degrees or higher. Meanwhile, the company has preliminarily completed the preparation and establishment of its talent development system, project management system, brand and industry resource system, and infrastructure system. It provides customers with specialized technical services ranging from testing and inspection, regulatory affairs, to clinical evaluation (ARO + CRO + SMO). In the CRO business sector, it will focus on consolidating its leading position in optical-mechanical-electronic products such as IVD, artificial intelligence and software products (digital medical devices), imaging, lasers, endoscopes, patient monitoring, and wearables, while maintaining its developmental advantages in high-value product areas such as sterile implants, extracorporeal circulation, and medical aesthetics. In the CDMO business sector, it aims to initially establish itself as a medical device translation platform with R&D and production capabilities, possessing relatively comprehensive R&D capabilities and industrialization advantages in fields such as minimally invasive surgery and IVD reagents/instruments.

Wuhan Tacro Technology Co.,LTD. stated, “The next decade will be a critical and vibrant period for the transformation and development of China’s medical device industry. Advances in talent, policy, regulation, and capital will collectively drive and shape a golden decade for the future growth of the medical device sector.”

The “Golden Decade” of the medical device industry also marks the second decade of Wuhan Tacro Technology Co., LTD. Over the next ten years, Tacro Technology plans to further solidify the foundational details at each critical stage of technology translation, focusing on key professional fields, major industrial regions, and priority clients. The company aims to develop a strategy in which CRO (Contract Research Organization) and CDO (Contract Development Organization) services gradually synergize with CMO (Contract Manufacturing Organization) capabilities. With its headquarters in Wuhan (Central China) and Hangzhou (East China) as a key hub, Tacro Technology will leverage complementary advantages across North and South China to form an integrated national layout. Through this strategic framework, Tacro Technology will better fulfill its corporate mission: “Making innovation and entrepreneurship in the medical device industry less difficult!”

Zheshang Venture Capital boasts a professional management team of nearly 100 members, with its core team possessing extensive experience in industrial operations and investment management. Currently, Zheshang Venture Capital manages nearly 40 equity investment and M&A funds, with assets under management exceeding RMB 55 billion. The cumulative market capitalization of its portfolio companies surpasses RMB 800 billion. Zheshang Venture Capital primarily focuses on high-growth enterprises in sectors such as big health, new consumption, new technology, and intelligent manufacturing, while also seeking out outstanding companies driving significant innovation within traditional industries.

The Xiaoshan Science and Technology City Industrial Development Fund is a fund of funds operated and managed by Transfar Capital through market-oriented mechanisms. It primarily invests in strategic emerging industries such as life sciences, the digital economy, and technology services. By adopting the “Fund + Industrial Park” and “Fund + Investment Promotion” models, it provides robust financial support for building an end-to-end innovation system that integrates incubation, acceleration, and industrialization, thereby empowering the development of a future-ready industrial ecosystem.

Transfar Capital is the integrated platform for investment, industrial consolidation, and capital operations under Transfar Group. Adhering to the principles of “value investing,” “research-driven decision-making,” and “industrial empowerment,” it is a specialized industrial investment institution that prioritizes supply chain layout and the construction of an industry-finance ecosystem. Currently, its managed funds achieve comprehensive coverage across large-scale industrial funds, venture capital (VC) funds, private equity (PE) funds, and funds of funds (FOF), with assets under management exceeding RMB 10 billion.

Wuhan Baiying Fund is a venture capital fund focused on the biotechnology sector, initiated and established by the Wuhan Institute of Biotechnology. Leveraging the institute’s resource advantages in key incubated projects, its brand influence, and domestic and international networks, and integrating superior resources from universities, research institutes, and enterprises in Wuhan, the fund provides professionalized management, scaled-up funding, and comprehensive industrial resource integration to early- and mid-stage life and health companies within the institute-centric region. It offers all-around support for their rapid future development, striving to become an outstanding equity investment fund that maximizes returns for investors.