Huizhenbang Secures Tens of Millions in Series A Funding to Address Three Core Challenges in the Billion-Dollar Grassroots Medical Discipline Development Market

VCBeat has learned that Huizhenbang, a platform dedicated to discipline construction in primary care hospitals, recently announced the completion of its tens-of-millions-level Series A financing round. The round saw participation from renowned investment institutions, with Tianchao Capital serving as the exclusive financial advisor. Previously, Huizhenbang had secured investments from multiple firms, including Legend Star and Yi Yi Capital.

Huizhenbang specializes in providing discipline development services to primary-care hospitals, comprehensively enhancing the medical technical capabilities of grassroots departments through targeted support in clinical care, teaching, and scientific research. The proceeds from this financing round will be allocated to technology development and the construction of shared laboratories.

“The difficulty of retaining patients at primary care hospitals and the challenge of accessing care at tertiary (Grade 3A) hospitals” represent a major pain point in the healthcare industry at the current stage. To address this issue, national-level policies have promoted tiered diagnosis and treatment, encouraging improvements in primary care capacity through initiatives such as the establishment of medical consortia and multi-site practice by physicians. This aligns with the national directive that “common illnesses should be treated within townships, and serious diseases within counties.” In the future, 90% of common diseases, critical and severe conditions, and certain complex cases will be basically diagnosed, treated, and rehabilitated within county-level jurisdictions, thereby alleviating pressure on large hospitals. On the corporate side, numerous innovative enterprises serving primary care institutions have emerged rapidly, creating a market potential worth hundreds of billions of yuan. Huizhenbang is a leader in this field.

Before embarking on his entrepreneurial journey, Cheng Youshuang was recognized as one of the Top 10 Most Influential Figures in China’s Doctor Groups. He served as the head of discipline construction for the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and practiced as a thoracic surgeon. In 2013, after more than a decade of experience within the public healthcare system, Cheng gained profound insights into the pain points faced by both patients and physicians, as well as the systemic challenges inherent in the medical industry. Drawing on the successful experience of discipline construction at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, he aspired to leverage his expertise and strategic insights in this area to benefit more grassroots hospitals and patients during his lifetime.

Over the course of his 12-year clinical career, Cheng Youshuang identified two major pain points in the healthcare industry: First, the uneven distribution of medical resources, with large hospitals being overcrowded while smaller ones remain largely empty. Second, common cross-regional expert consultations are plagued by legal loopholes and issues of trust between doctors and patients. Moreover, such consultations only address the intraoperative phase for individual patients, failing to provide holistic solutions that cover preoperative diagnosis, intraoperative coordination, and postoperative care, thereby offering no systematic or comprehensive improvement to overall medical technical standards.

Drawing on years of professional experience and reflection, Cheng Youshuang has identified a solution to address these pain points. He believes that discipline development is the foundation of a hospital’s growth and a key manifestation of its core competitiveness. “Only by systematically cultivating hospital departments in terms of clinical care quality, teaching talent, and research capabilities can we enhance the disciplinary standards of primary-care hospitals.”

While this may sound easy in theory, implementation presents significant challenges and barriers to entry. The healthcare system is characterized by entrenched models, numerous critical links, and diverse stakeholders. Designing, executing, and operating a commercial business model within this landscape requires a profound understanding of the healthcare ecosystem, along with rigorous strategic thinking, design, and iterative review. It also demands exceptional operational execution, standardization, scalability across regions, and specialized “know-how.” Through multiple iterations of its business model and operations, Huizhenbang has emerged as a leader in this field.

Huizhenbang is a professional institutional platform positioned as a third-party medical service provider, targeting public primary-care hospitals and serving patients, experts, and hospitals. Huizhenbang has established its position in this niche market through three key initiatives:

Enhance the medical technical capabilities of primary healthcare institutions; increase the patient volume at primary healthcare institutions; and improve the scientific research capacity of primary healthcare institutions.

As of May 2020, Huizhenbang had completed standardization and cross-regional replication for expansion. The number of partner hospitals participating in discipline construction reached 23, with nearly 50 interventional departments. The total contract value exceeded RMB 132 million, with a 100% renewal rate. This initiative has benefited patients across 16 regions in East China, significantly reducing referral rates and conserving social resources.

Cheng Youshuang revealed that Huizhenbang plans to collaborate with 100 public hospitals on discipline development over the next three years, establish more than 300 specialty departments with technical support, and actively expand its market coverage.

In addition, Huizhenbang has partnered with the Health Management and Service Innovation Center at Shanghai Jiao Tong University to jointly establish the Institute for Tiered Diagnosis and Treatment and Health. A shared laboratory has been set up at its Shanghai headquarters to provide research facilities for contracted primary care hospitals, supporting them from the initial stages of topic selection and project application. This initiative aims to enhance the hospitals’ influence and strive to develop their disciplines into municipal or provincial key specialties.

In addition, Huizhenbang offers a value-added service: providing consultation services to primary care hospitals. In response to the high demand for consultations among primary healthcare institutions, Huizhenbang invites expert-level hospitals to conduct consultations at the grassroots level. On one hand, this allows patients to avoid the hassle of traveling and reduces medical expenses; on the other hand, it enhances the diagnostic and treatment capabilities as well as the revenue levels of primary healthcare institutions.

HuiZhenBang boasts extensive experience in facilitating medical consultations and providing cross-regional consultation services for licensed physicians. To date, it has delivered consultation coordination services to nearly 100,000 patients, over 250 hospitals, and 3,000 specialists.

On the surface, Huizhenbang addresses the challenge of patient retention in primary care hospitals; fundamentally, it fosters a win-win outcome for patients, primary care institutions, the government, and medical experts.

Specifically, as the direct beneficiaries, patients can access high-quality medical care close to home, significantly reducing both time and financial costs. The improvement in medical standards at primary healthcare institutions has enabled them to retain patients, thereby increasing their revenue and creating a virtuous cycle. The government’s tiered diagnosis and treatment policy has been successfully implemented, alleviating pressure on the medical insurance system. Furthermore, the compliance of expert consultations is ensured, with clear delineation of rights and responsibilities between doctors and patients.

In 2020, Huizhenbang will deepen and refine its operations in the Yangtze River Delta region, reaching as many primary care hospitals as possible. Additionally, Huizhenbang will strengthen technical development in areas such as basic laboratories and clinical support systems, while cultivating talent for market expansion, thereby establishing a solid foundation for nationwide coverage across China in 2021.