Udesk Files for IPO: How China's Leading Intelligent Customer Experience Platform Captured the Pharma Digital Transformation Wave with Nearly $1B in Funding Over 5 Years

Empowered by technology, the essence of marketing has undergone phased transformations, gradually evolving from the past “Product Era” to the current “Experience Era.” In this context, it is particularly crucial for enterprises to establish efficient and robust customer experience systems that deliver distinctive experiences to consumers, thereby enabling them to stand out in the marketplace.

“Empowering enterprises with exceptional customer experience is Udesk’s mission and our greatest strength,” said Yu Haoran, Founder and CEO of Udesk (full name: Beijing Wofengshidai Data Technology Co., Ltd.).

Udesk was founded in July 2014. Starting with an omni-channel intelligent customer service system, it has upgraded after five years of development intoChina's Leading Provider of Intelligent Customer Experience Solutions. Leveraging foundational technologies such as AI, big data, cloud computing, IoT, and open platforms, Udesk provides enterprises with a comprehensive customer experience platform that spans the entire lifecycle—from customer acquisition, sales, and customer service to repeat purchases and referrals by existing customers, as well as internal operational efficiency enhancement. This helps businesses improve lead conversion rates, increase sales revenue, boost service satisfaction, and optimize internal efficiency, thereby delivering exceptional experiences for both customers and employees.

Over the past five years, Udesk has served more than 20,000 enterprise clients, completed six rounds of financing totaling nearly RMB 700 million, and continued to attract strong investor interest.

(Udesk Financing Table)

What advantages have enabled Udesk to take the lead and become a leading enterprise in the intelligent customer experience sector? Recently, VCBeat conducted an exclusive interview with Yu Haoran, Founder and CEO of Udesk, for insights.

By leveraging digital solutions, pharmaceutical companies can apply technologies such as cloud computing, big data, mobile connectivity, and artificial intelligence to transform and innovate their operational and management models. This delivers enhanced digital value to both customers and enterprises, thereby strengthening corporate competitiveness. Currently, the broader trend of digitalization has permeated every sector of the pharmaceutical industry, making digital transformation an essential step for modern pharmaceutical companies on their path to future success.

Propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 marked the inaugural year of digital transformation for pharmaceutical companies, with market trends guiding industry players through their metamorphosis.

“Amid the trend of digital transformation, intelligent customer experience is a crucial component of the process,” pointed out Yu Haoran, Founder and CEO of Udesk.

Yu Haoran, Founder and CEO of Udesk, stated that Udesk’s entry into the customer service sector was driven by three key factors.First, the maturity of underlying technologies,With the maturation of foundational technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and cloud computing, implementation across various scenarios in customer experience management has become feasible;Next is the enterprise's development needs., as the demographic dividend peaks, China's economy is gradually shifting from extensive to refined management, making it an imperative to enhance operational efficiency and reduce costs through enterprise services.

Finally, the Shift in Consumer-Enterprise Communication MethodsThe rise of mobile internet and social networks has transformed the way enterprises interact with consumers. The relationship between businesses and consumers is no longer a one-way dissemination but rather a multi-touchpoint interaction that spans the entire consumer lifecycle. Managing communication touchpoints across all channels and throughout the full lifecycle has become a highly promising area for enterprise services, enhancing customer satisfaction while uncovering new business opportunities.

Leveraging a robust technological core to address enterprise needs,Udesk has built a full-chain product matrix encompassing an omnichannel customer service system, intelligent product lines, large-scale contact centers, field service, and customer relationship management.“To date, we have served benchmark enterprises across 32 niche sectors, spanning healthcare, leading internet companies, home furnishings, food and beverage, and more.”Among them, there are nearly 50 Fortune Global 500 clients and nearly 80 China Top 500 clients.“Udesk Founder and CEO Yu Haoran introduced.

Behind the technology lies team cohesion.Udesk’s core technical team members all hail from tech giants such as Tencent, Baidu, Microsoft, and 360. Yu Haoran, Udesk’s founder and CEO, began his career as a customer service technology engineer and previously served as Sales Director at Inspur Group. Xiao Lipeng, Udesk’s CTO, has a background at Tencent, where he successively led star projects including Tenpay and WeChat Red Packets, specializing in the foundational architecture of distributed high-concurrency systems.

In the pharmaceutical field,Udesk builds an intelligent customer experience solution by focusing on three major areas: “Customer Experience Management,” “Knowledge Base Management,” and “Smart Marketing.”

Customer Experience Management:In the pharmaceutical industry, the entire customer journey is a long-term cycle, ranging from pre-treatment medication consultations to post-sale medication reminders. Every touchpoint must deliver an optimal customer experience. By establishing a user feedback system to collect insights on products and services, conducting user health diagnostics, and optimizing product and service workflows, companies can enhance user satisfaction.

Knowledge Base Management:Customer service in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry demands a high degree of professionalism. By leveraging knowledge bases and intelligent agent assistants, real-time process guidance enables smart triage, effectively steering customer needs and optimizing workflows. Through precise knowledge recommendations, the system automatically suggests relevant medical information to customer service representatives, aiding in accurate responses. Automated issue matching and intelligent handling of service-related inquiries streamline operations for medical consultants, thereby enhancing work efficiency.

Smart Marketing:Leveraging big data capabilities to integrate online and offline data, we utilize data analytics and user profiling to help enterprises accurately define typical user characteristics, enabling personalized, targeted marketing that drives user conversion and growth. By harnessing data collection and multidimensional analysis capabilities, we strengthen customer relationship management, boost product sales, and facilitate business expansion.

(The image showsUdeskIntelligent Customer Experience Solutions - Product Architecture)

(The image shows Udesk's video customer service solution)

“We served a global biopharmaceutical company, helping it set an industry benchmark for patient services through omnichannel demand integration, end-to-end patient experience tracking, and middle-platform-based new product marketing management,” said Yu Haoran, Founder and CEO of Udesk.

Currently,Udesk has served more than 20 renowned pharmaceutical companies in China and abroad, including industry leaders in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors such as Jointown Pharmaceutical Group, Nanjing Medicine, Sinopharm Holdings – Guoda Drugstore, Johnson & Johnson, Zai Lab, WuXi AppTec, and MicroPort Medical.

He cited the collaboration with the renowned pharmaceutical company WuXi AppTec, which has been providing services since 2017 and has achieved remarkable results.

Cooperation ScopeThe cooperation primarily unfolds across four key dimensions:1. Deployment Model: SaaS deployment features a short implementation cycle, rapid go-live, and convenient updates and iterations, eliminating the need for clients to provide operational and maintenance personnel.2. Call Center: Breaks through geographical and temporal limitations of customer service. Inbound calls are automatically distributed based on queuing strategies and integrated with LYNC.3. Instant Messaging (IM): Customers leverage their own system APIs to achieve synchronized user information through integration. By consolidating multiple platforms via Udesk, HR inquiries for 20,000 internal employees are centrally addressed.4. Ticketing Requirements: - HR: Establishes an end-to-end HR case resolution process encompassing circulation, assignment, handling, and tracking. User requests are rapidly responded to through Udesk ticket trigger notifications. - IT: Provides ticketing functionality to meet internal employees’ needs for reporting IT faults. Customizable workflows enable automated routing to different operations and maintenance staff for handling.

“By integrating omnichannel customer demands into a single platform, customer needs can be accurately routed to the most suitable personnel anytime and anywhere for timely resolution. When combined with intelligent scheduling, this enables a complete business closed loop,” said Yu Haoran, Founder and CEO of Udesk.

Through this series of operations, Udesk for WuXi AppTecHolistic operations and maintenance have improved efficiency, reduced labor costs, and enhanced user experience.

Data Statistics,Udesk’s omnichannel customer service system can boost agent efficiency by 86%, achieve a customer satisfaction rate as high as 96%, reduce annual costs by over RMB 100,000, and increase order conversion rates by 20%.

When it comes to Udesk’s core competencies, Yu Haoran, Founder and CEO of Udesk, identifies the following key points:I. Capability for Productizing Technology: Apply technologies such as AI and big data to all customer service scenarios, and develop standardized product modules to address common customer needs;II. Product Portfolio Capabilities: It has formed a product matrix with full-chain coverage from online to offline, from pre-sales to after-sales, and from internal to external operations. While the first growth curve remains strong, it has already completed the product layout for its second and third growth curves.

III. Application-Scenario-Oriented Capabilities: Continuously incubate new application scenarios and propose specific scenario-based solutions for each.IV. Industry-Specific Capabilities: Gain in-depth insights into industry needs, address industry pain points, develop customized industry solutions, and empower the industry.

He stated that in the next phase, Udesk will expand and make strategic arrangements in terms of technology, products, team, and market.

Technologically, we will strengthen the R&D of reserve technologies to continuously reinforce our technological leadership. In terms of products, we will continuously optimize existing offerings, launch new products, and refine our product portfolio. Regarding external collaborations, we will join hands with solution, sales, and service partners to build an industry ecosystem based on win-win cooperation. For team expansion, we will scale up our technical team, particularly doubling the size of our AI team, while continuously attracting outstanding mid-to-senior level talent. In terms of market layout, we will increase business investment in overseas markets.

“Our goal is to become the intelligent customer experience solution provider with the deepest understanding of the pharmaceutical industry, and the preferred partner for pharmaceutical companies seeking to enhance customer experience.“Yu Haoran, founder and CEO of Udesk, expressed strong confidence in the future.”