Yaobianli, a Pharmaceutical New Retail Startup, Secures RMB 30 Million Series A Funding from GGV Capital and He Xiaopeng

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that “Yao Bianli,” a startup in the pharmaceutical retail sector, announced that it had secured RMB 30 million in joint investment from GGV Capital and He Xiaopeng.This round of financing will be used for the expansion of new business lines on the platform, the growth of offline operations, the company’s talent development program, brand building, and other initiatives.。

Yaobianli is a company in the new retail pharmaceutical sector, positioned to empower traditional pharmaceutical chains and the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. InPharmacy Scenario, focusing on the sales perspective, to help pharmacies implement 24-hour “home delivery services” and “unmanned sales services,” while providing comprehensive empowerment in member management and operations;In the pharmaceutical industry, Yao Bianli is positioned as a promotional system for the intelligent and data-driven pharmaceutical industry at store terminals, facilitating industrial brand exposure and product marketing, bridging the gap between the pharmaceutical industry and store staff as well as consumers, and reducing costs associated with distribution, sales, and promotion.

The team members of Yaobianli possess composite backgrounds spanning capital, internet, and pharmaceutical industries. Yu Jun, CEO of Yaobianli, graduated from Peking University. He spent many years in venture capital at IDG Capital and GGV Capital (Jiyuan Capital). His early investments include U.S.-listed companies such as Aurora Mobile (NASDAQ: JG), Ezbuy (NYSE: LITB), Niu Technologies (NASDAQ: NIU), and the A-share listed company Wanmo Goertek Acoustics (002655); unicorn companies such as EHang and XPeng Motors; as well as companies including Immotor, Farm Manager, Cobot, and Coding.net. In mid-2018, he left GGV to found Yaobianli. Wu Chengfeng, Co-founder of Yaobianli, has many years of experience in the pharmaceutical distribution industry and previously worked at Dingdang Kuaiyao, where he was responsible for product and technology. Other team members of Yaobianli are industry veterans with 10–20 years of experience from companies such as Haiwang Pharmaceutical Group and Taiji Group.

Yu Jun believes that, compared with the mature fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry, the pharmacy retail sector still lags significantly in terms of service quality, service capability, and operational efficiency. First, when customers visit physical stores to purchase medications, they cannot easily access effective, reliable, and professional medication guidance services. For instance, licensed pharmacists are sometimes not on duty; sales staff often lack formal pharmaceutical education and are driven by sales targets, aggressively promoting more expensive drugs; and the abundance of information fails to instill trust. Second, although there are numerous pharmacies in China, 95% of them do not operate 24 hours a day, with most closing between 9:00 PM and 11:00 PM. It is common to hear customers complain about being unable to purchase urgently needed medications, particularly during nighttime emergencies such as acute fever or colds in children, or when women experience discomfort.

For pharmacies, high operating costs necessitate expanding reach across time and space to drive traffic and sales, while also requiring systematic tools to retain existing customers and attract new ones. However, the current landscape of the pharmacy sector is characterized by highly fragmented operators; many pharmacies lack robust system development capabilities, let alone the ability to offer customized services.

According to official statistics, by the end of 2018, there were a total of 489,000 pharmacies in China. The top 100 pharmacy chains operated approximately 80,000 stores combined, accounting for around 18% of the total. Chain enterprises with 10 to 100 stores operated about 270,000 stores, representing roughly 35%. While the chain affiliation rate continues to rise, nearly half of all pharmacies remain “mom-and-pop” stores, indicating a highly fragmented industry. Although large corporations such as ATM are actively investing heavily in leading market players, Yu Jun believes that this consolidation process will be quite protracted, and industry fragmentation will remain a long-term phenomenon.

For pharmaceutical manufacturers, excessive reliance on distribution channels for product placement results in prohibitively high costs for in-store promotion and an inability to reach end consumers (C-end). Dependence on traditional media such as television and building advertisements for brand and category promotion—limited to over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and health supplements—incurs substantial advertising expenses without enabling precise acquisition of user feedback. Yao Bianli has proposed solutions to address these challenges.

Yu Jun, CEO of Yaobianli, believes that all services should be designed from the perspective of end-users. Yaobianli’s philosophy centers on intensifying efforts on the consumer side to excel in two key areas: “medication purchasing” and “scientific and rational drug use.” The company empowers pharmacies—the “scenarios” closest to users—with these enhanced capabilities and elements, fostering a mutually supportive, back-to-back partnership with them.

Yao Bianli’s “Medicine Delivery to Your Door” service will form strategic partnerships with leading local enterprises across China, providing users with ultra-convenient medication purchasing services such as “nationwide delivery,” “30-minute home delivery,” and “5-minute automated pickup downstairs.” Meanwhile, through the “Yongyao Bianli” mini-program, it offers a “One-Minute Medication Guide” service promoting “scientific and rational drug use,” connecting users with professional pharmaceutical guidance from top-tier hospital physicians in China, thereby addressing the lack of professionalism in traditional pharmacy services. Additionally, Yao Bianli collaborates with various large chain pharmacies to empower them, enhancing operational and capital efficiency.

As an investor in Yaobianli and Yu Jun’s former boss at GGV Capital, Ji Xun, Managing Partner of GGV Capital, stated: “Yu Jun worked diligently at GGV for four years, and we know him thoroughly. In his investment role, he devoted significant time to providing post-investment support to the companies he invested in and managed, delivering substantial assistance in business development, talent acquisition, and fundraising. His efforts yielded notable results and laid a solid foundation for his entrepreneurial venture. On another note, we have long been optimistic about the pharmaceutical distribution sector. The supply side of this industry is highly fragmented, creating a need for more systematic sales and operational services. The Yaobianli team’s composite background—spanning internet technology, industry expertise, and capital—will help the company gain traction. Looking ahead, the ‘consumer-end + last-mile warehouse’ model holds greater long-term value in the pharmaceutical retail space.”

He Xiaopeng, founder of XPeng Motors (and former founder/CEO of UCWeb), who is also an investor in Yaobianli, shared his perspective: “I got to know Yu Jun through Ji Xun, as they jointly led the investment in XPeng Motors, which gave us more opportunities to interact. I support his transition from investor to entrepreneur, hoping he can proceed more steadily and grow faster. Although pharmaceuticals are low-frequency purchases, they are essential necessities. With annual offline sales reaching RMB 600 billion, it represents a substantial market. Moreover, an increasing number of young people are now purchasing common medications online. Yaobianli’s solution is designed from an empowerment perspective, with its product cleverly addressing the pain points of pharmacies and pharmaceutical manufacturers. I look forward to Yu Jun and his team executing their product development and implementation with greater aggressiveness and solidity.”

Recently, Capsule, an online pharmacy headquartered in New York, announced the completion of a $200 million Series C funding round. Dubbed the “Uber of the online pharmacy market,” it aims to provide patients with home medication delivery services. Although there are significant differences between the pharmaceutical distribution markets in China and the United States, the large user base and inelastic demand remain constant facts. This highlights the substantial growth potential of home medication delivery services in the future. The Chinese pharmaceutical market is still in its early stages of development, with low levels of industry consolidation and digitalization, presenting a major sector where challenges and opportunities coexist.