Changmugu Secures Tens of Millions of RMB in Series A+ Financing from Lenovo Capital to Accelerate AI and Surgical Navigation Solutions in Orthopedics

VCBeat (WeChat: vcbeat) has learned that Beijing Longwood Valley Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (“Longwood Valley”), a high-tech enterprise specializing in AI for orthopedics, recently announced the completion of its tens-of-millions-of-RMB Series A+ financing round. The round was solely invested by Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group (LCIG), with WinX Capital serving as the financial advisor.

Longwood Valley is a national high-tech enterprise specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) and surgical navigation solutions for orthopedics. It provides hospitals with comprehensive, end-to-end solutions covering AI-assisted diagnosis, personalized surgical planning, 3D-printed surgical guides, surgical navigation, and postoperative assessment. Founded in 2017, Longwood Valley was established in the Longwood Medical Area, home to Harvard Medical School, and in Silicon Valley, where Stanford University is located. In September 2018, the Longwood Valley team returned to China from the United States. Over the following two years, the company built an R&D team comprising talents from prestigious institutions both domestically and internationally, including Harvard University, Stanford University, Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Nankai University. To date, Longwood Valley has completed four rounds of financing, having previously secured seed funding led by FreeS Fund, Pre-A funding led by Legend Star, and Series A funding led by Zhongguancun Development Group’s Qihang Investment.

Dr. Zhang Yiling, CEO of Longwood Valley, stated, “This round of financing will be used for the research and development of new products in orthopedic artificial intelligence and surgical navigation systems, continued investment in core technologies, application for NMPA clinical registration certificates and product commercialization, as well as the development of our talent pipeline. We are committed to continuously building precise medical solutions powered by orthopedic AI and surgical navigation, addressing pain points across the orthopedic industry from multiple perspectives and throughout all stages, thereby further enriching our product portfolio.”

Dr. Zhang Yiling, CEO of Longwood Valley

China’s orthopedic market is substantial. Taking artificial joint replacement surgery as an example, nearly 900,000 such procedures were performed in China in 2019, with the annual volume growing rapidly at a rate of 15% to 20%. The market size of China’s orthopedic industry has reached the hundred-billion-yuan level. Dr. Zhang Yiling stated, “However, the high precision requirements for artificial joint replacement surgery and the steep learning curve for physicians have hindered young and grassroots doctors in China from smoothly performing these procedures. Even in large tertiary Grade A hospitals, it remains highly challenging for lead surgeons to ensure every operation is precise and perfect. There is an urgent need among Chinese orthopedic surgeons for precise, intelligent, and digital solutions for orthopedic surgeries.” To address this, Longwood Valley, in collaboration with authoritative orthopedic expert teams from more than 30 tertiary Grade A hospitals—including PLA General Hospital (301 Hospital), China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Peking University Third Hospital, the First and Second Affiliated Hospitals of Army Medical University, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou Second Hospital, Yantaishan Hospital, Guizhou Provincial People’s Hospital, and the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University—has transformed the extensive surgical experience of top joint surgery experts into standardized algorithms for machine deep learning. This effort has led to the development of AI Joint, an AI-assisted 3D surgical solution for joint replacement. The solution provides orthopedic joint surgeons with a comprehensive workflow covering preoperative planning, intraoperative navigation, and postoperative follow-up, effectively enhancing the precision, standardization, and safety of orthopedic surgeries and addressing physicians’ actual clinical needs.

Dr. Zhang Yiling added, “We hope the AI Joint system will become a ‘super tool’ for orthopedic surgeons. With advantages such as high precision, low cost, and low entry barriers, it can effectively lower the threshold for joint replacement surgery and reduce the learning curve for surgeons. This will enable rapid, large-scale adoption in the Chinese market, empowering orthopedic surgeons, particularly young and middle-aged physicians as well as those practicing at the primary care level.”

As a strategic partner of Johnson & Johnson MedTech, Longwood Valley has engaged in extensive in-depth collaboration with the latter in the digitalization and intelligence of orthopedic joints, including the development project of AI-assisted 3D surgical precision diagnosis and treatment for joint surgery in China. Within two years of its establishment, Longwood Valley has launched multiple products such as AIHIP and AIKNEE, continuously iterating and upgrading them to enrich its product portfolio, which covers software, hardware, consumables, and services. The company has established collaborations with over 100 Grade A tertiary hospitals across 23 provinces in China. Meanwhile, by precisely applying suitable preoperative planning systems and intraoperative execution terminals tailored to the needs of experts and patients at hospitals of different tiers, Longwood Valley significantly enhances the efficiency and outcomes of surgeries performed by doctors in various scenarios, earning widespread popularity and recognition among orthopedic surgeons.

"New Infrastructure" for Smart Orthopedics

“New Infrastructure Construction” (referred to as “New Infrastructure”) is an infrastructure system guided by new development concepts, driven by technological innovation, based on information networks, and oriented toward the needs of high-quality development, providing services such as digital transformation, intelligent upgrading, and integrated innovation. In the healthcare industry, traditional orthopedics also calls for a comprehensive upgrade brought about by “New Infrastructure.” Longwood Valley, driven by technological innovation, is bringing smart transformation and intelligent upgrading to the entire industry. By building an orthopedic infrastructure platform through a full-process integration of “software + hardware + consumables + services,” it achieves “precision, speed, and comprehensive coverage,” thereby addressing the pain points of doctors, patients, manufacturers, and the entire healthcare system, and promoting the transformation and upgrading of orthopedics and the healthcare industry. Dr. Zhang Yiling stated, “Longwood Valley will continue to deepen its engagement in the field of orthopedics, optimize AI products and surgical navigation systems to make overall solutions more precise and intelligent, while advancing the application for and approval of clinical registration certificates. We hope to create China-made, world-leading products in the direction of intelligent and digital orthopedics, achieving precision, intelligence, and personalization in orthopedic surgeries, benefiting more Chinese patients, and ensuring that no surgery is too difficult to perform.”

He Zhiqiang, Senior Vice President of Lenovo Group and President of Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group (LCIG), stated, “As Lenovo Group’s corporate venture capital arm focused on the technology industry, LCIG has consistently concentrated on investments in the intelligent internet sector, placing significant emphasis on emerging opportunities driven by digitalization and intelligence trends in the healthcare field. Longwood Valley boasts a rare team specializing in the digitalization of orthopedic joints, with robust technical capabilities and rapid progress in product development, clinical collaborations, academic engagement, and market expansion. We are optimistic about Longwood Valley’s ongoing commercialization efforts and its strategy to extend its technologies to lower-tier markets, thereby benefiting a broader population of patients and healthcare providers.”

Dr. Zou Guowen, Partner at WinX Capital (Kaicheng Capital), stated, “Longwood Valley is a rare high-quality investment target in the field of orthopedic AI. Its products address pain points for all stakeholders, are well-suited to China’s specific conditions, and can replicate and transfer the expertise of top-tier surgeons to the broader primary care market, thereby decentralizing high-quality medical resources in line with the needs of China’s healthcare landscape. Meanwhile, the company boasts strong technical capabilities, possessing non-replicable technological advantages and barriers in medical resources. With a clear commercialization path and development strategy, it demonstrates strong growth and profitability expectations. Following this round of financing, we will continue to accelerate implementation and look forward to Longwood Valley achieving new breakthroughs.”