Building a Medical Industry Database for $6,000? We've Been Working on It for Six Years

I still frequently share a story with my friends.

When Datao and I first founded VCBeat in 2014, we aimed to build an industrial database for the healthcare sector. We were driven by an inexplicable conviction that data represented the future, even though we could not clearly articulate why at the time.

At the outset of our venture, with limited funds, we engaged a technical outsourcing firm to build a database-driven website for RMB 6,000, paying an initial deposit of RMB 3,000. Upon receiving the first version of the developed product, I negotiated with the vendor: we would forfeit the initial RMB 3,000 deposit, and neither party would pursue the remaining RMB 3,000. Both sides reached an agreement, thereby concluding the initial database development effort. Please refer to the image below, dated June 25, 2014.

Those who have seen this version of the logo must be among VCBeat’s earliest readers. (Looking at this image reminds me that the header page design was inspired by the style used by Cyzone at the time.)

Over time, VCBeat has become widely recognized by users as a research-oriented media platform focused on healthcare venture capital and investment. Throughout this journey, our team has never ceased its exploration of data.

Starting in 2016, VCBeat established its first version of a database with its own team, but it was not made available to the public because we were highly dissatisfied with it.

In 2017, VCBeat launched its membership product, which incorporated certain data functionalities.

In the second half of 2018, VCBeat officially established its digital team and registered the independent brand “Artery Orange,” which became a sister product to VCBeat.

Now, I would like to discuss VCBeat’s product.

When discussing media, we often approach it from an editorial perspective. What is the core competency of an editor? According to Datao, an editor’s role is to bring clarity and structure to a complex and chaotic world. This perspective also addresses a common question among our friends: why did several of us, none of whom come from the medical industry, launch a media platform focused on healthcare venture capital and investment? The key lies in our editorial expertise, which has enabled us to reorganize and map out the landscape of healthcare innovation. This value is delivered to our users through startup coverage, case studies, and industry reports.

However, this capability of traditional editors has a fatal flaw: experience and knowledge exist in textual form, making them impossible to extract, recombine, or continuously update after the fact. Furthermore, these capabilities reside primarily with individuals rather than being aggregated into a collective platform asset. This is precisely why we aimed to build a database from the very inception of VCBeat.

The creation of Artery Orange is fraught with contradictions, as it challenges and even reconstructs our existing capabilities on multiple levels. Artery Orange was not originally conceived as a database product; rather, it is more akin to a digital product, with the database serving merely as its underlying infrastructure. Our aim is to build a digital workflow that transforms information into knowledge, thereby redefining our “editorial” process from the very inception of information production.

It has the following distinct characteristics:

Throughout its research into the healthcare industry, specialized sectors, and case studies of leading enterprises, VCBeat has accumulated a wealth of methodologies. We deconstruct these methods, structure the underlying experience and information, reorganize them, and then present them to users. To users, the content may appear similar, but the key difference lies in its structured nature, capacity for continuous updates, and interactivity.

This primarily stems from VCBeat’s content team’s first-hand research, interviews, and in-depth analysis. For instance, data relevant to each of VCBeat’s industry reports is archived into the VBOrange database. Meanwhile, during the content production process, the VCBeat content team follows a digitalized workflow for topic selection, data collection, and archival. Journalists also categorize articles and companies with tags during the publication process, ensuring that relevant information is retained in a structured format.

At this stage, we are primarily launching data focused on the digital health sector. This is because digital health has become a major hotspot in the healthcare industry, with its funding growth rate ranking first globally over the past two quarters. As China advances its “New Infrastructure” initiative, digital health will also be a key priority. We aim to provide users with the most comprehensive vertical-sector data possible.

We strive to find the optimal balance between media content and database functionality to meet users’ information needs. First, it requires comprehensive coverage, encompassing everything from full-length reports and articles to individual bid award data points, thereby capturing all aspects of the evolving digital health industry. Second, it must employ a logic aligned with industry research to systematically organize and connect fragmented information. Most importantly, it must present this information in a highly user-friendly and accessible manner. Through this exploratory process, we studied various types of global databases and digital products, and leveraging VCBeat’s industry expertise, we developed the product known as Artery Orange.

Among VCBeat’s readers, particularly those who have purchased a VCBeat membership, we have found that the primary user base consists of executives and founders of startups; heads of strategy or marketing departments, as well as staff members, at unicorn companies and publicly listed companies; investors; and relevant officials from government agencies and industrial parks.

We have conducted multiple member surveys, which revealed that the most common use cases for paying members are: reading industry reports, reviewing investment and financing information, tracking policy updates, and monitoring industry trends. Their primary work scenarios involve preparing industry analysis reports, market analysis reports, and similar documents. In response to these needs, VCBeat has undergone a comprehensive upgrade aimed at delivering an enhanced user experience.

In the current media landscape, valuable industry information is scattered across various channels, including media websites, social platforms, corporate websites, and government agency portals. Relying on traditional manual collection methods to stay abreast of all relevant information is clearly impractical. Therefore, we have established an information monitoring system that covers over 500 high-quality global sources, standardizing, categorizing, and tagging the collected data. Individual users can leverage our newly designed dashboard to continuously track information in their areas of interest.

[Image source: VCBeat Orange Database.]

Having reviewed a vast number of industry research articles—from investment and financing perspectives, to policy-driven angles, and industrial viewpoints—each piece offers its own dimension, yet there is substantial repetition across them.

VCBeat organizes information across each sub-sector along four unified dimensions—market, capital, policy, and product—and interprets industry development trends for you through continuously updated thematic reports.

[Image source: VBInsight database.]

Taking the primary work scenarios of VCBeat’s journalists and researchers as an example, producing an industry investment and financing report previously required two weeks, whereas it can now be completed in approximately two days. In contrast, preparing a comprehensive industry research report used to take around two months, with 80% of that time devoted to data collection and graphic creation. By proficiently utilizing the Arterial Orange Data System, the production cycle for such reports can be shortened to approximately two weeks.

VCBeat was born out of the internet healthcare startup boom. Not long ago, experts from think tanks such as the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences released the “Report on the Development of Digital Health in China (2020).” This is the first report to systematically review and summarize the development of digital health in China since the World Health Organization published its draft “Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2024.” A global wave of growth in the digital health industry is sweeping across the world. According to forecasts by foreign research institutions, the global digital health market is expected to exceed $300 billion by 2025. We firmly believe that as the digital health industry develops and matures, the entire ecosystem of the healthcare sector will be fundamentally reshaped.

After considerable effort, we have now launched the first version, which features two product formats: a PC version (web-based) and a mini-program for mobile devices.

The PC version provides full access to all the features we aim to present. Copy the URL [https://vbdata.cn/index] and open it in your computer’s web browser, then follow the prompts to register or log in to start using the service.

We have also synchronized the data from the VCBeat user system. Users who previously purchased memberships have been directly upgraded to VCBeat Orange members to safeguard your rights and interests.

Given the frequent use of mobile phones, we have also developed a user-friendly mini-program for mobile devices. While its features are slightly adjusted, it still effectively meets your information needs. You can scan the mini-program card below to access it.

The first batch of databases launched by VCBeat focuses primarily on the digital health sector. We have categorized digital health into three main dimensions: Smart Healthcare, Internet Healthcare, and Digital Therapeutics. Relevant information has been archived in our database and is continuously updated.

Currently, the VCBeat Digital Health Database has incorporated the following data:

Since the launch of VCBeat’s open membership in 2017, it has been adopted by over 3,000 users (institutions). The newly introduced VCBeat Orange product is currently evolving from a media-based data offering into a digital-centric solution. We aim to enhance usability for our users and highly value your continued feedback.

In short, we are deeply committed to industry research, and even more so to digital-driven industry research. Thank you once again.

We sincerely invite you once again to experience the new products from VCBeat. We will continue, as always, to create value for the industry and work alongside you to drive the rapid development of medical innovation in China.

"We remain committed to being the initial and enduring companions of innovators."

If you encounter any issues during use, you may contact customer service via our website or leave a message on the VCBeat Orange official WeChat account. Additionally, we offer customized industry intelligence solutions for enterprises. If interested, please scan the QR code in the poster below to get in touch with us for further discussion.