UP Clinic Completes RMB 50 Million Series B Financing Led by Longling Capital with Participation from Matrix Partners China

On October 9, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned at the earliest opportunity thatUP Clinic, a brand specializing in orthopedic rehabilitation and sports medicine, has officially announced the completion of its RMB 50 million Series B financing round. To date, UP Clinic’s cumulative fundraising has exceeded RMB 100 million. This round was led by Changling Capital, with Matrix Partners China as a participating investor.

It is reported that UP Clinic secured tens of millions of yuan in Series A+ financing in August 2018, led by Matrix Partners China and participated by ZhenFund.

UP Clinic is a Sino-foreign joint venture chain medical institution dedicated to sports medicine, musculoskeletal rehabilitation, and the diagnosis and treatment of orthopedic conditions. It provides professional medical services to sports enthusiasts, orthopedic patients, post-operative individuals, and those in suboptimal health states. The mission of UP Clinic is “Quality Healthcare, Quality Rehabilitation.”Since the trial operation of the first UP Clinic chain rehabilitation outpatient facility in July 2018, UP Clinic has opened four locations in Shanghai, all of which have achieved profitability, and has cultivated and built a reserve of nearly 100 medical professionals.

According to the "2019 Research Report on the Development Potential of the Rehabilitation Industry" released by VCBeat, China's per capita rehabilitation expenditure was approximately RMB 32 in 2018. With rising income levels and increased spending on rehabilitation services,It is estimated that by 2022, per capita rehabilitation expenditure will reach approximately RMB 74, at which point the scale of China’s rehabilitation market will amount to around RMB 103.3 billion.。

Regarding the details of this round of financing, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) conducted an exclusive interview with Sun Xiaoyi, founder of UP Clinic, to analyze from multiple perspectives why UP Clinic continues to attract investor interest.

UP Clinic evolved from “YiShu,” a leading domestic orthopedic patient management platform launched in September 2015,“YiShu” has accumulated years of experience and currently operates China’s largest perioperative doctor-patient management platform for orthopedics, serving more than 20,000 specialists in orthopedics and rehabilitation across over 3,800 hospitals., through more than 300 specialty-specific assessment scales and over 1,800 single-disease patient education guidelines, we have gradually established standardized systems for postoperative rehabilitation, as well as an intelligent clinical follow-up platform that facilitates communication between physicians and patients.

“Orthopedic rehabilitation faces two major challenges: first, there is a lack of effective coordination between orthopedic and rehabilitation departments during the perioperative period; second, orthopedic patients generally struggle to access timely postoperative rehabilitation care, have difficulty accurately understanding medical instructions, and suffer from a lack of rehabilitation knowledge,” Sun Xiaoyi told VCBeat.

Based on this, after the establishment of UP Clinic,“YiShu” serves as the internal patient management system for UP Clinic, while continuing to fulfill its role as “China’s largest perioperative orthopedic doctor-patient management platform.”In other words, after patients undergo orthopedic surgery in public hospitals or complete rehabilitation therapy at UP Clinic and return home, they can continue to use “Yi Shu” to access relevant rehabilitation knowledge, thereby helping them sustain scientific and effective treatment.

With an online management platform complemented by offline rehabilitation clinics, UP Clinic and “Yishu” have established a closed-loop diagnosis and treatment system in the field of orthopedic rehabilitation. Currently,UP Clinic operates four locations in Shanghai, becoming the only sports medicine and orthopedic rehabilitation service provider in China capable of delivering comprehensive mid- to long-term solutions that integrate “in-hospital + out-of-hospital” and “online + offline” care for patients.

As is well known, improving the quality of outpatient development and enhancing chain operation and standardization capabilities have become widely recognized challenges within the industry. A single standalone clinic may be profitable, but the second and third clinics may see diminishing profits or even incur losses. Regarding UP Clinic’s decision to bet on a chain model, Sun Xiaoyi believes that, in addition to recognizing rehabilitation clinics as more flexible than hospital specialty departments within the rehabilitation industry chain and viewing them as the mainstream business model of the future,Compared with other sub-sectors in the healthcare industry, rehabilitation clinics demonstrate greater competitiveness in terms of chain operation and standardization capabilities.

In practice,UP Clinic has summarized and distilled its experience into three key areas: “proactive healthcare delivery, standardized management, and data-driven operations.”“This is also the division of labor and our goal among my two other partners and me. Each of us is responsible for one small task. If we excel in these three small tasks, they will culminate into something significant,” said Sun Xiaoyi.

UP Clinic’s rapid growth is attributable to its high-quality team behind the scenes.

Among the founding team, Dr. Sun Xiaoyi graduated from the University of Sydney in Australia and currently serves as a director of the Sports Rehabilitation Industry Alliance; Dr. Ye Tingjun graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine; Dr. Roger Zhao graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles; and Dr. Cory Arth graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles.

“Our team includes the team physician for the Dutch women’s volleyball team, the chief medical officer of the Marine Corps, the team physician for the national tennis team, and the team physician for the national canoeing team, among others. They come from all corners of the country, and each one is a core member of our team,” said Sun Xiaoyi.

It is reported that the sports rehabilitation team at UP Clinic has established long-term collaborations with multiple professional sports clubs, teams, and training bases, providing professional sports rehabilitation treatment for athletes. ThereforeUP Clinic also specializes in providing medical services such as injury treatment, sports rehabilitation, and performance enhancement for sports enthusiasts, fitness practitioners, and adolescent athletes.

Moreover, UP Clinic is a founding member of the Sports Rehabilitation Industry Alliance and a member of the Chinese Non-Public Medical Institutions Association. UP Clinic also serves as the medical support team for major events such as the Shanghai Marathon, the ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai, and the IAAF Golden League.

Prior to this round of financing, UP Clinic had already garnered favor from multiple renowned investment firms, including Matrix Partners China and ZhenFund.

Regarding the investment in UP Clinic, Jiang Xiaodong, Managing Partner at Changling Capital, told VCBeat: “As the quality of life for Chinese citizens improves, demand for sports medicine and orthopedic rehabilitation services is growing steadily. New payment models, user demographics, and evolving consumption habits are also driving transformation within the industry. Therefore, Changling Capital is highly optimistic about the development of the sports rehabilitation sector and the maturation of consumer demand. Through in-depth engagement with the team,”We have found that UP Clinic, with its internationally standardized rehabilitation techniques, years of deep industry engagement, and mature business model, has become the industry benchmark in this emerging field.“We also hope that this round of financing will enable the company to achieve rapid growth, extend access to high-quality medical services to a broader population, and contribute to the standardized, scaled, and orderly development of the industry.”

Dr. Yu Zhiyun, Managing Director at Matrix Partners China, who has participated in two rounds of investment, stated, “In China, orthopedic care tends to prioritize surgical interventions, while insufficient attention is paid to postoperative rehabilitation, which is an essential and pressing need. As more people engage in sports, the demand for sports-related rehabilitation is surging. However, delivering professional-grade orthopedic and sports rehabilitation services is no easy feat.”UP Clinic has assembled a team of the most professional sports medicine physicians and rehabilitation therapists from both China and abroad, creating a high-quality medical environment. Since its opening, it has attracted a large base of loyal clients and distinguished investors through word-of-mouth referrals.. Wishing UP Clinic continued success.”

Changling Capital, established in 2016, is a new generation of theme-driven venture capital fund. It is committed to investing in technology-driven business model innovations within five core investment areas: “New Healthcare Services,” “New Medical Technology,” “New Healthcare Infrastructure,” “Health and Wellness Consumerism,” and “Aging-Related Consumerism.” Changling Capital has offices in Shanghai and Beijing, currently managing over RMB 3.5 billion in assets. Its limited partners include globally renowned institutional investors such as endowment funds from prestigious universities and hospitals, foundations, pension funds, and top-tier fund-of-funds.

Matrix Partners China, established in 2008, is an investment firm focused on emerging industries and stands as the most active VC institution in the early-stage market with deep roots in China. It has invested in over 630 companies to date, adding 50–60 new portfolio companies annually. Matrix Partners China’s primary investment sectors include healthcare, new technology plus advanced manufacturing, mass consumer goods, B2B/trading platforms, culture/entertainment/social networking, education, and fintech. Notable portfolio companies include Didi Chuxing, Yuanfudao, Chehaoduo Group, Momo Technology, Ele.me, Li Auto, XPeng Motors, Peijia Medical, iSpace, So-Young, Futu Holdings, LexinFintech, Liepin, Taimei Medical Technology, Drug Clinical Trial Center (Yanfashe), and Ronbay Technology.