MGI Tech Secures Over $1 Billion in Series B Funding, Files for IPO with China Renaissance as Exclusive Financial Advisor

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that on May 28, MGI announced the completion of its Series B financing round, raising over $1 billion. The round was led by IDG Capital and CPE, with participation from China Renaissance New Economy Fund, Guofang Capital, Huatai Zijin, Titan Capital, Shanghai Sailing Capital, Co-stone Capital, Shanghai Dingfeng, and Guotai Junan Venture Capital. Existing shareholders, including CITIC Securities/Goldstone Investment and Sinowood Capital, made additional investments. This financing sets a new record for the largest private equity fundraising in China’s genomics sector in recent years, with China Renaissance serving as the exclusive financial advisor.

MGI, founded in 2016, currently employs over 1,000 people and operates in 50 countries and regions. With multiple research and production bases established worldwide, it is one of only three companies globally capable of independently developing and mass-producing clinical high-throughput gene sequencers. In the four years since its inception, MGI has served more than 500 customers.

MGI CEO Mou Feng stated, “As an upstream player in the industry, MGI aims to continuously provide users with core tools for life science research and applications based on the central dogma of molecular biology, while building an open industrial ecosystem characterized by cooperation and win-win outcomes.”

Since the beginning of the new year, the COVID-19 pandemic has deeply concerned the public. Against the backdrop of epidemic prevention and control, MGI equipment has emerged as a significant force. First, its high-throughput automated viral nucleic acid extraction systems have substantially enhanced nucleic acid testing capacity, securing valuable time for virus detection. Second, its independently developed and manufactured sequencers have assisted researchers in decoding and studying the novel coronavirus, thereby accelerating the development of COVID-19 vaccines and specific therapeutic drugs. Third, its remote ultrasound robots enable teleconsultations, sparing patients from arduous travel and reducing the risk of cross-infection among healthcare workers.

Today, the epidemic situation in China has been effectively controlled. MGI has not relaxed its efforts; instead, it has exported its equipment, expertise, and scientific research personnel to various parts of the world, providing aid to numerous countries and regions, and contributing to the second phase of the global fight against the pandemic. From 2016 to the present, MGI has achieved a breakthrough from zero to one, and then to one hundred.

Looking ahead, MGI stated that it will continue to dedicate itself to building a sequencing ecosystem, reducing sequencing costs, and making the technology more accessible. Only by having an increasing number of companies develop and expand their own platforms based on domestically produced sequencers can the entire industrial chain be perfected. Meanwhile, MGI will remain committed to becoming the “creator of core tools for life sciences,” accelerating the R&D and production of comprehensive equipment for life digitalization.