Yizhun Intelligence Secures RMB 100 Million Series B+ Financing to Accelerate AI-Driven Medical Imaging Innovation

Recently, Beijing Medical Standard Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “MEDICAL AI”) announced the completion of its Series B+ financing round, raising hundreds of millions of yuan. The round was led by CITIC Medical Fund, with existing shareholder Zhongfu Yide participating as a follow-on investor. As an equity investment management platform under CITIC Group focused on the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, CITIC Medical Fund’s leadership in this round brings top-tier medical group resources into the fold, opening new windows for industrial collaboration in the AI sector. MEDICAL AI will seize this opportunity to achieve greater breakthroughs in the application of artificial intelligence within the healthcare industry.

It is reported that this round of financing will be primarily used to increase investment in product technology research and development, continuously improve the core product line and upgrade hardware equipment, and expand the deployment of AI products across medical institutions at all levels, thereby accelerating the comprehensive coverage of digital healthcare in the process of smart hospital construction.

Driven by the pandemic in 2020, a surge in digital healthcare infrastructure was unleashed, with 5G, big data, and artificial intelligence becoming the focal points of technological advancement in healthcare in recent years. Capital interest in medical AI products has also intensified; statistics show that the medical AI industry secured 47 financing rounds in 2020, with a total funding amount reaching RMB 8.48 billion. Overall, the industry and finance are set to enter a phase of deep integration. Industrial capital investment will trend toward specialization, synergy, and internationalization, comprehensively accelerating the process of healthcare digitalization.

CITIC Medical Fund, the lead investor in this round, is committed to building a comprehensive, empowerment-oriented pharmaceutical industry fund with deep industry integration capabilities. It has assembled a team of industry experts with years of senior operational experience in multinational healthcare companies and finance professionals with extensive expertise in the fund sector. It is reported that CITIC Medical Group has established a strategic partnership with the CAICT (Chinese Academy of Information and Communications Technology) under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The two parties will further strengthen their cooperation in promoting the integration of industry and finance in internet healthcare and fostering the development of the “Internet + Healthcare” industry. The entry of this industrial capital into MEDICAL AI represents resource integration along the vertical axis of the industrial value chain and will serve as a catalyst for the commercial implementation of AI. Leveraging CITIC Medical Group’s abundant healthcare industry resources, it will comprehensively empower MEDICAL AI’s industrial upgrading.

MEDICAL AI has always adhered to its original aspiration of becoming an “efficient and precise AI assistant for radiologists.” By deeply implementing a strategy that expands horizontally before vertically, it achieves comprehensive coverage across all imaging products and equipment. Taking breast imaging as an example, MEDICAL AI creatively launched the world’s first AI analysis system based on real-time dynamic recognition of 3D ultrasound—the Intelligent Breast Ultrasound Analysis System. Together with the Intelligent Mammography Analysis System, it forms a dual-engine approach for early breast cancer screening, achieving full-spectrum breast detection and making breast cancer screening more accessible.

Vertically, starting from single diseases and progressing from diagnosis to clinical treatment, and bridging radiology departments with clinical specialties, MEDICAL AI comprehensively enhances the quality and efficiency of every link in clinical pathways. Based on actual clinical needs, MEDICAL AI has developed AI-assisted analysis systems tailored to different scenarios, lesions, and medical imaging equipment, creating a comprehensive suite of AI-assisted analysis products. Taking the chest as an example, MEDICAL AI launched an intelligent multi-disease analysis system for chest DR that covers eight major diseases and includes four advanced features. It also iteratively released an intelligent chest CT analysis system covering nine major thoracic diseases, encompassing the entire workflow from detection to analysis and better aligning with clinical needs.

Supported by a "horizontal-first, then vertical" strategy, MEDICAL AI has launched a diverse product portfolio based on various devices, including CT, DR, MRI, ultrasound, and mammography systems. To address research needs, MEDICAL AI introduced the Darwin Research Platform, which integrates dual engines of deep learning and radiomics. This platform provides a one-stop solution for medical research, ranging from annotation to modeling, significantly lowering technical barriers and becoming an indispensable tool in medical scientific research.

MEDICAL AI’s product R&D process is deeply aligned with the intelligent upgrading of imaging equipment. The company is exploring the potential for modular integration of AI systems with imaging devices. To this end, it has entered into a strategic partnership with GE Healthcare to leverage complementary strengths and foster synergistic development, while developing customized digital healthcare applications based on the diverse ecosystem value and scale offered by the Edison platform.

Over the past three years, MEDICAL AI has been consistently exploring how to maximize the impact of AI in medical imaging. The company has made steady and rapid progress in productization and commercialization, achieving rapid iteration and updates of its core products, enhancing product maturity, continuously advancing commercialization efforts, and supporting hospitals’ digital transformation. To date, MEDICAL AI’s products have been deployed in more than 600 healthcare institutions across China, assisting nearly 10,000 radiologists with image-based diagnostic support. Its market share has increased significantly, placing it at the forefront of commercialization.

Regarding this financing round, Ms. Cai Hua, General Manager of CITIC Medical Fund, stated: “We are honored to serve as the lead investor in MEDICAL AI. We believe that the application of artificial intelligence in the healthcare sector is an inevitable trend, a process that has been further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. MEDICAL AI’s R&D team consists of multidisciplinary talents with deep expertise in both the healthcare industry and AI technology. Starting with single-disease medical imaging analysis, the company has expanded its scope from single diseases to single organs, and then to multiple body sites. By focusing on two major diseases—lung cancer and breast cancer—it is leveraging AI to enhance multidimensional diagnostic data analysis.”

MEDICAL AI has demonstrated outstanding performance in product iteration, market expansion, and commercial implementation. Notably, its intelligent analysis systems for chest CT and mammography have achieved the highest installation base in the industry, while its intelligent breast ultrasound analysis system has secured the first registration certificate in China’s ultrasound sector. We believe that MEDICAL AI will comprehensively enhance diagnostic and treatment efficiency and quality, emerging as a leading platform company in the field of medical imaging artificial intelligence.

In this regard, Lü Chenchong, Founder and CEO of MEDICAL AI, stated, “As an innovative enterprise in the field of artificial intelligence for healthcare, MEDICAL AI has managed to break through intense competition primarily by leveraging two key advantages. First, our product innovation is closely aligned with commercialization processes, ensuring that each developed product is promptly commercialized. Second, we deeply understand the expectations for digital and clinical innovation within the medical sector. Over the past three years, MEDICAL AI has focused its efforts on product innovation and commercialization, achieving rapid iteration and updates of core products based on actual clinical needs. Furthermore, by maintaining collaboration with upstream and downstream partners in the industry ecosystem, we have effectively addressed channel coverage challenges. Therefore, we are confident in our ability to contribute significantly to the intelligent transformation of the healthcare industry.”

CITIC Medical Fund is CITIC’s equity investment management platform focused on the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector, dedicated to building a comprehensive, empowerment-oriented healthcare industry fund with deep capabilities in industry consolidation. The fund’s team comprises industry specialists with extensive senior operational experience at multinational healthcare companies, as well as financial experts with deep expertise in the finance sector.