Deepwise Medical Secures Sixth Funding Round in Four Years, Attracting Leading Investors with Clinically Validated AI Solutions

On May 10, 2021, DeepWise, a leading domestic medical AI enterprise, announced the completion of its Series C3 financing round. This marks the sixth consecutive time DeepWise has secured capital support since its establishment four years ago. Notably, this financing announcement follows another major development in the medical AI sector: on April 1, DeepWise obtained its second Class III AI medical device certification for its pneumonia AI product.

This round of financing was led by CPE Yuanfeng, with participation from the AstraZeneca CICC Medical Industry Fund and the China Reform State-Owned Enterprise Operation Investment Fund. Existing shareholders Kunzhong Capital and Legend Capital continued to participate and increased their investments in this round.

Prior to this, DeepWise had undergone five rounds of financing, securing investments from more than ten renowned institutions, with four single rounds exceeding RMB 100 million. A review of DeepWise’s investors reveals a distinct pattern: existing shareholders have remained steadfast in their support, while new shareholders have opened up fresh opportunities for growth.

Throughout DeepWise’s fundraising journey, Kunzhong Capital has invested five consecutive times, from Series A to the current round; Legend Capital follows closely with four successive investments. As evident from the above, behind DeepWise’s strides in the medical AI market stands a roster of star and renowned investment institutions. The rush of capital to enter this space reflects not only optimism about the AI-powered medical imaging sector but also strong recognition of DeepWise’s value.

As one of the earliest investors in DeepWise, Kunzhong Capital has invested in the company since its Series A round and remains bullish on its prospects. Mr. Wang Jun, Founding Managing Partner of the firm, stated: “DeepWise has established long-term strategic goals, clear development strategies, and a cohesive leadership team, achieving notable phased accomplishments.“Although the company is still very young, we are willing to accompany DeepWise in its growth and expansion over the long term.”

Since the Series B financing round in 2018, Legend Capital has continued to support the development of DeepWise. Mr. Li Jiaqing, Managing Director at Legend Capital, stated, “Legend Capital prioritizes innovation-driven growth in the healthcare sector and has consistently focused on the deep integration of the healthcare industry with technology. Medical imaging is poised to be the field most profoundly impacted by artificial intelligence in the coming years. Within the realm of AI-powered medical imaging,”DeepWise boasts leading comprehensive strength across research and development, engineering technology, product design, and marketing and sales. With a rich portfolio of AI-powered medical products, it has established a complete closed-loop ecosystem of “data + products + services.”Legend Capital hopes to continue joining hands with DeepWise in the future to benefit more patients.”

This funding round also saw the entry of three new investors: CPE Yuanfeng, the AstraZeneca CICC Healthcare Industry Fund, and the China Reform State-Owned Enterprise Operations Investment Fund.

As the lead investor in this round of financing, Mr. Chen Jinhao, Managing Director at CPE Yuanfeng, stated that the decision to invest in DeepWise was made after a comprehensive assessment of its current development stage.DeepWise’s R&D and product planning are closely aligned with physicians’ needs, earning strong recognition and trust from frontline clinicians. Currently, the company’s business layout, product roadmap, and regulatory approval progress are all industry-leading, positioning it for substantial future growth.。

CPE Yuanfeng is committed to building long-term partnerships with its portfolio companies, supporting their sustainable development. Chen Jinhao stated, “CPE Yuanfeng will help DeepWise further enhance its comprehensive product, technology, and market layout, establishing it as a leading enterprise in the medical AI sector.”

The AstraZeneca CICC Medical Industry Fund is a specialized, market-oriented healthcare fund jointly established by CICC Capital and AstraZeneca, aiming to provide full-cycle empowerment support—from R&D to commercialization—for innovative enterprises both in China and overseas. “Based on leading artificial intelligence algorithm technologies and its forward-looking product layout planning, DeepWise has built a product matrix of intelligent medical equipment covering multiple organs and diagnostic and therapeutic fields in just four years. The clinical application of its technology and its business model have both been validated by the market and implemented in clinical settings, demonstrating its industry-leading R&D capabilities and speed..” said Mr. Shan Junbao, President of CICC Capital and the appointed representative of the executive partner of the fund.

“DeepWise is an outstanding medical innovation enterprise in the field of artificial intelligence. Anchored in clinical value, it started from the single domain of respiratory diseases and has proactively laid out a comprehensive strategy for precise multi-organ diagnosis and end-to-end diagnosis and treatment.”Leveraging DeepWise’s leading product development capabilities, AstraZeneca has already initiated exploration and collaboration with the company on diagnostic and therapeutic solutions in county-level markets. We look forward to further empowering DeepWise across multiple dimensions—from capital support to commercialization—to fully unlock the potential of its core technologies.“Mr. Chen Bing, Managing Director of the AstraZeneca CICC Healthcare Industry Fund, Vice President of AstraZeneca China, and Head of Strategic Partnerships and Business Development, stated.”

Fund investment management is a key lever for China Reform Holdings Corporation (CRHC) in its state-owned capital operations. The CRHC Central Enterprise Operation Investment Fund, an important component of the CRHC Fund family, focuses on investing in competitive leading enterprises with core strengths in strategic emerging industries and holds a highly optimistic view on the application prospects of artificial intelligence in the healthcare sector.

The fund manager stated that AI-assisted diagnosis in medical imaging, the sector where DeepWise operates, has become one of the most mature application scenarios in the medical AI field. Driven by policy support and accelerated by the pandemic, the entire industry is experiencing rapid growth.As one of the first companies in the industry to obtain two Class III medical device certifications, DeepWise has firmly established itself at the forefront of the sector in terms of product portfolio and commercialization capabilities. “We are confident that, under the leadership of a team with strategic vision and exceptional execution capabilities, DeepWise will better leverage digital technologies to continue creating value for China’s healthcare system.””

In fact, significant changes have taken place in the medical AI sector in China in recent years. A number of medical AI products have received regulatory approval in China, covering areas such as pulmonology and orthopedics, while numerous medical AI companies have secured substantial financing rounds. These developments underscore a more pronounced trend of capital flowing toward leading enterprises in the industry.

Based on the perspectives of numerous investment institutions regarding DeepWise, the primary reasons for its strong appeal to capital can be summarized as follows:

First, focus on and benefit from the rapidly growing medical AI market with immense potential.According to the report “The Path and Wisdom of Medical AI Innovation: Returning to Needs, Integrating Value,” the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of medical artificial intelligence over the past five years has exceeded 40%, with the application market size approaching RMB 30 billion in 2020. The pandemic in 2020 temporarily slowed the development of most sectors within the healthcare industry, yet it also served as a catalyst for the intelligent transformation of hospitals. Furthermore, since 2020, approval standards for Class III medical device certification of medical AI products have been successively introduced, and the National Medical Products Administration’s (NMPA) approvals have bolstered confidence among professionals in the imaging AI sector. Driven by these multiple factors, medical AI has entered a period of vigorous growth.

Second, leading AI algorithm technology and research capabilities.Research strength has always been the core competitiveness of DeepWise. Its core department, the DeepWise Research Institute, boasts an unparalleled scale within the industry. Dedicated to exploring cutting-edge medical technologies and responsible for the algorithmic research and development of core products, it has produced numerous outcomes that combine clinical value with technological innovation, thereby establishing a robust scientific barrier. DeepWise currently undertakes multiple major special research projects funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and various provincial and municipal authorities across the country. It has published research findings in internationally renowned academic journals such as Science and Nature, accumulating a total impact factor exceeding 200, while its number of software copyrights and patents has also surpassed 200.

Third, build a medical AI ecosystem centered on the whole-organ AI-assisted diagnostic system.DeepWise leverages deep learning technology and its self-developed artificial intelligence algorithms as its core, continuously expanding innovative AI applications in the healthcare sector. It has established a complete closed-loop system of “data + products + services,” gradually building an AI ecosystem that encompasses AI-assisted medical diagnosis, intelligent imaging cloud, smart research, and intelligent equipment. DeepWise is also among the first companies in the industry to obtain two Class III medical device certifications, with its products deployed in hundreds of hospitals across China.

Fourth, a team with strategic vision and efficient execution capabilities.DeepWise’s team brings together professionals from diverse fields, including artificial intelligence, the internet, cloud computing, and medical imaging. With years of in-depth engagement in the healthcare and AI sectors, the company possesses profound industry expertise and technical prowess. Its deep understanding of the healthcare industry enables it to accurately capture clinicians’ needs and align product development and planning accordingly, earning widespread recognition and trust among frontline clinical physicians.

Product approval is regarded as the first step toward the commercialization of medical AI products. The year 2020 was hailed as the year when medical AI products began to be implemented in practice. During this year, multiple medical AI companies, including DeepWise, obtained Class III medical device certifications. This, to some extent, indicates a significant increase in national investment in encouraging innovation in medical devices and promoting the application of new technologies, bringing favorable development opportunities to the entire healthcare industry. In light of this, medical AI enterprises such as DeepWise need to continue innovating, seize the opportunities of the times, and break through bottlenecks in the development of the healthcare industry, thereby further advancing technological progress in the field of medicine.