WeDoctor Ranks Top in CB Insights' Digital Health 150, the Only Chinese Firm in Top 10

Recently, the globally renowned data intelligence firm CB Insights released its inaugural lists of the Global Digital Health 150 and 17 Unicorn Companies. Among the 150 selected digital health startups, China ranked second with a total of seven companies, trailing only the United States. Of the 17 listed unicorn companies valued at over $1 billion, three are Chinese enterprises.

Excitingly, Hangzhou-based digital health company WeDoctor has claimed the top spot on the list, standing as the sole Chinese enterprise among the top ten. This marks another appearance for WeDoctor following its recognition by CB Insights in 2017 as China’s leading healthcare technology unicorn.

List of 17 Unicorn Companies in the CB Insights Global Top 150 Digital Health List

It is reported that this is the first-ever digital health ranking released by CB Insights, and the first global list conceptualizing “digital health” since the World Health Organization published its Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2024. The digital health companies featured in this report primarily refer to those dedicated to leveraging advanced technologies to provide novel solutions for transforming the healthcare industry, including technology-driven platforms in disease diagnosis, drug development, medical insurance, and artificial intelligence.

CB Insights’ industry analysts believe that within the healthcare sector, which boasts an industry value exceeding $5 trillion, the list features the 150 digital health companies with the greatest potential to create innovative products and services.

According to CB Insights’ official description, the list nominated over 5,000 companies worldwide and ultimately selected the 150 most promising digital health startups based on their overall performance. The evaluation criteria encompassed multiple dimensions, including patent portfolio, investment profile, media attention, Patent Mosaic score, market potential, partnerships, competitive landscape, team strength, and technological novelty.

The field of digital health is dynamic and rapidly evolving. In May 2018, the 71st World Health Assembly adopted Resolution WHA71.7 on digital health, which redefined the term “digital health.” The resolution noted that terms such as e-health, medical informatics, health informatics, telemedicine, telehealth, and mHealth have been used over the past five decades. The term “digital health” reflects both conceptual integration and sufficient flexibility.

The World Health Organization states that digital health holds the potential to advance the Sustainable Development Goals and support health sectors in all countries by promoting health and preventing disease. The Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2025 outlines a vision, strategic objectives, and a framework for action to guide countries in advancing digital health. Within the context of this global strategy, digital health can be understood as “the field of knowledge and practice associated with the development and use of digital technologies to improve health.”

As of June 2019, WeDoctor had connected with more than 2,700 medical institutions across 29 provinces and municipalities in China, linking over 290,000 physicians. It also partnered with more than 100 leading overseas medical institutions in the United States, Japan, Germany, Hong Kong (China), and other regions. With over 200 million real-name registered users and cumulative service deliveries exceeding 920 million visits, WeDoctor has become a foundational infrastructure for digital health in China, earning it the industry moniker “the Amazon of healthcare.”

The Top 150 Digital Health Companies list shows that the three best-funded companies are led by genomics startup GRAIL, followed by insurtech company Oscar Health, and then China-based WeDoctor.

Backed by sequencing giant Illumina, California-based GRAIL is dedicated to realizing its vision of reducing global cancer mortality through early cancer screening. In less than three years since its founding, GRAIL has secured $1.6 billion in funding across three rounds, rapidly emerging as a unicorn in the liquid biopsy industry.

Oscar Health is a U.S. health insurance startup unicorn well-known in China. Leveraging its “smart, simple insurance products” and the vast individual insurance market under the Affordable Care Act, Oscar Health has enjoyed strong investor support since its inception, reaching a valuation of over $2.7 billion within three years of its founding.

The report indicates that by leveraging a digital platform to deeply connect and optimize the allocation of supply-side resources for delivering healthcare services, WeDoctor has created a novel one-stop digital healthcare solution, which has been a key factor in its rise to the top of the ranking. Previously, WeDoctor had secured investments from prominent institutions including Tencent, China Development Bank Capital, Fosun Pharma, Morningside Venture Capital, AIA Group, NWS Holdings, and CIC Capital. In May 2018, WeDoctor completed a new round of financing amounting to $500 million, bringing its post-financing market valuation to $5.5 billion.

Below is the complete list of CB Insights’ Global Digital Health 150: