Genskey Medical Completes Hundreds-of-Millions RMB Series B Funding to Advance NGS-Based Infectious Disease Diagnostics

VCBeat has learned that GensKey Medicine recently announced the completion of its Series B financing, amounting to hundreds of millions of yuan. The investors include SoftBank China Capital, Shanghai Linchuang Investment, and Yuanju Capital. In early 2019, GensKey Medicine completed its Series A financing, raising tens of millions of yuan from Legend Capital. With this latest round, GensKey Medicine has successfully secured two consecutive rounds of financing within a year, bucking the trend in a cooling investment market, with all investors being top-tier institutional brands.

GensKey Medicine is engaged in the development of infectious disease diagnostic products and the provision of medical testing services for infectious diseases. Currently, the company’s flagship product for high-throughput pathogen genetic testing, Jinshiyuan, utilizes next-generation sequencing-based metagenomics to provide physicians with genetic testing services for pathogenic microorganisms. Since its establishment, GensKey Medicine has experienced rapid growth, having served more than 100 hospitals and over 1,000 physicians to date. Additionally, it has assisted more than ten central hospitals across China in building and operating high-throughput pathogen testing platforms, serving tens of thousands of patients.

Dr. Jiang Zhi, Co-founder and CEO of GensKey Medicine, is a representative figure among serial successful entrepreneurs. Holding a Ph.D. in Biology from Peking University and the title of Senior Research Fellow, she previously served as Product Line Director at BGI Group, and was Co-founder and President of Novogene Corporation. Under her leadership and drive, Novogene grew over eight years to become the world’s largest provider of gene sequencing and bioinformatics services.

During Dr. Jiang Zhi’s tenure at Novogene, the company’s core business achieved steady year-on-year growth. In late 2018, Dr. Jiang left Novogene to join GensKey Medicine, where he built a team focused on pathogen diagnostics as its primary strategic direction. Leveraging his decade of experience in high-throughput genetic testing, he recruited a large pool of talents in clinical testing and genomic technologies, driving the rapid development of GensKey Medicine. In 2019, Dr. Jiang was named to Fortune China’s “40 Under 40” list of business elites.

Dr. Jiang Zhi, CEO of GensKey Medicine

“I believe that infectious disease diagnostics represents a vast market, with many unresolved pain points in clinical practice. I hope more industry professionals will join us in educating and expanding this market,” said Dr. Jiang Zhi in a previous media interview. “I also anticipate that genetic testing for infectious diseases will be a long-term endeavor, similar to other NGS applications in medicine; there is still a long way to go in terms of both products and services. Therefore, I hope to partner with investors who are truly patient, determined, and experienced, to develop GensKey Medicine into a leader in the infectious disease diagnostics industry, continuously providing clinicians with the best products and services.”

Legend Capital and SoftBank China Capital, the lead investors in GensKey Medicine’s Series A and B financing rounds, are both renowned investment firms with outstanding reputations in the industry. Their equity investments signify strong recognition of the team and the company’s growth potential. One of the co-investors in this round, Lingang Sci-Tech Innovation Investment, is a specialized industrial investment institution under Shanghai Lingang Group, the only large-scale state-owned enterprise in Shanghai directly supervised by the Shanghai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) that focuses primarily on the investment, development, and operation of industrial parks. The other co-investor, Yuanju Capital, operates as a fund of funds (FoF) and serves as a key financial backer for numerous top-tier investment institutions.

In fact, in addition to investment firms such as Legend Capital and SoftBank China, many investors specializing in the healthcare industry also recognize that genetic testing for infectious diseases has the potential to become another important medical application area of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, following newborn genetic risk screening, pharmacogenomic testing for oncology, and genetic disease testing. Currently, more than ten companies have announced their entry into this sector. Among these enterprises, GensKey Medicine, backed by multiple top-tier venture capital firms, has clearly emerged as a leader and gained a significant first-mover advantage. In 2019, GensKey Medicine was named one of the “Top 50 Most Investment-Worthy Companies in China,” selected by over 100 investors organized by Zero2IPO Group.

GensKey Medicine Wins 2019 Venture 50

GensKey Medicine was established in 2017, originating from the incubator of the School of Life Sciences at Peking University. The name “GensKey” derives from “Gene’s Key,” symbolizing the company’s mission to apply genetic technologies to find the key solution for diagnosing infectious diseases. Currently, the company’s headquarters and product R&D center are located in the Changping Life Science Park of Zhongguancun, Beijing. It is recognized as a High-Tech Enterprise in Zhongguancun and a leading enterprise in Tianjin’s strategic emerging industries. GensKey Medicine is deeply rooted in Peking University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and numerous top-tier medical institutions in the capital. Over 90% of its staff have professional backgrounds in life sciences and clinical medicine, with extensive experience working in gene sequencing and medical diagnostics companies, healthcare institutions, and microbiology research organizations. GensKey Medicine has established medical laboratories approved by the Health Commission in Tianjin and Shanghai, equipped with Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) microbiology laboratories, PCR laboratories, and second- and third-generation high-throughput sequencing platforms. Additionally, it operates a GMP-certified workshop in Tianjin for the production of pathogen diagnostic reagents and testing instruments.

GensKey Tianjin Medical Laboratory

SoftBank China Venture Capital (SBCVC), established in 2000, is a venture capital and private equity fund management firm dedicated to investing in high-growth, high-tech enterprises across the Greater China region. It has successfully invested in a portfolio of outstanding companies, including Alibaba, Taobao, Focus Media, GDS Holdings, BGI Genomics, AnHan Photoelectric, Dian Diagnostics, and Edan Instruments. Currently, SBCVC manages multiple USD and RMB funds, with investment sectors spanning information technology, healthcare, clean technology, consumer retail, and advanced manufacturing, covering investment stages from early-stage to growth-stage and late-stage.

Lingang Sci-Tech Innovation is a market-oriented fund management platform under the Lingang Group. It manages multiple private equity funds, including direct investment funds and funds of funds, such as the “Lingang Zhizhao Series Funds,” a special fund for the intelligent manufacturing industry in the Lingang area, and the “Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund.”

Yuanju Capital is a professional private equity fund of funds (FOF) manager. It selects high-quality equity funds in the market for institutional and individual investors, invests in these funds through its FOF structure, and also proactively seeks direct investment opportunities. Since its establishment in 2017, it has invested in funds launched by outstanding managers such as Guochuang Kaiyuan, Legend Capital, and Huakong Fund.

In 2001, Liu Chuanzhi, then President of Legend Holdings, decided to establish a team led by Zhu Linan to enter the investment sector, with $35 million from Legend Holdings serving as the first fund. Thus, Legend Capital was founded in April 2001. Legend Capital was an independent professional venture capital firm under Legend Holdings. In February 2012, Legend Capital was renamed Legend Capital (Junlian Capital). Currently, Junlian Capital manages U.S. dollar and RMB funds with a total scale exceeding RMB 45 billion, focusing primarily on innovation and growth opportunities in China. As of 2018, Junlian Capital had invested in nearly 450 companies, among which close to 70 have successfully listed or been quoted domestically or overseas, and more than 60 have exited through mergers and acquisitions.