Fosun's Yuexiu Holdings Invests RMB 130 Million in Aichong Doctor to Capture Upstream Pet Industry Market

VCBeat learned that at the 22nd Asian Pet Exhibition held on August 22, Yuyuan Inc., a listed company under Fosun, convened an industrial strategic layout launch event, where it officially announced a strategic investment of RMB 130 million in Ai Chong Yi Sheng (Shanghai Chong Ling Chong Network Technology Co., Ltd., hereinafter referred to as “Ai Chong Yi Sheng”), a one-stop service platform for China’s pet industry. According to VCBeat’s investment and financing database, this represents the largest single-round financing amount secured by a company in the pet medical services sector among nearly 20 financing deals in the pet industry since January 2019.

Prior to this, iPet Doctor had already secured tens of millions of RMB in investment from institutions such as CICC Capital, Puhua Capital, and Tanpin Fund.

October 25, 2017: VCBeat’s First Report on the Illustrations of Ai Chong Doctor

In 2015, Ma Qian, who had previously been involved in stray animal rescue work in Shanghai, established Ai Chong Doctor in Pudong New Area.

At that time, the issue Ma Qian needed to address was how to resolve the majority of inquiries from medical institutions and facilitate the connection between pet owners and veterinary healthcare providers through online lightweight consultations, similar to the model employed by “Spring Rain Doctor.”

Consequently, Ma Qian began with online lightweight pet consultations to gradually aggregate consumer-side traffic from pet owners. At this stage, the iPet Doctor internet platform leveraged Location-Based Services (LBS) to display nearby veterinary clinics, enabling users to consult with professional veterinarians online for rapid and accurate assessment of their pets’ health conditions. Furthermore, iPet Doctor established connections with veterinary hospitals; if a pet was found to be ill, users could directly contact veterinarians, search for nearby veterinary clinics, and review ratings on the platform.

Starting from the consumer side, Ai Chong Yi Sheng has gradually entered the business-to-business market.

In June 2016, Ai Chong Yi Sheng, leveraging its user traffic, launched a SaaS management system and supply platform tailored for veterinary hospitals.

After launching its procurement services, Ai Chong Doctor’s monthly gross merchandise value (GMV) rapidly exceeded RMB 5 million. According to official data, as of February 2019, the platform offered more than 5,000 types of products for veterinary hospitals, with a cumulative GMV of RMB 300 million. This represents extremely rapid growth in less than three years.

Later, Ai Chong Doctor launched Ai Chong Installment—a supply chain finance service platform for the pet industry—to address the challenge faced by individual veterinary hospitals in purchasing relevant equipment and instruments outright due to varying financial capabilities. In collaboration with third-party financial service providers, Ai Chong Doctor offers interest-free installment payment plans of up to 12 months for veterinary hospitals purchasing medical devices. Additionally, hospitals are required to pay only 30% of the total price of the equipment upfront, enabling them to acquire more medical instruments at a lower initial cost and expand their operations.

In March 2018, Ai Chong Doctor launched Ai Chong Academy—an online training platform for the pet industry, aimed at cultivating qualified veterinarians for the sector.

Since VCBeat’s first report on Ai Chong Doctor on October 25, 2017, the company has been realizing its two-year blueprint under the leadership of Ma Qian: to serve as an online-to-offline (O2O) closed-loop service provider for pet hospitals, empower various stakeholders in the pet healthcare industry with digital technology, and integrate supply chain, finance, training, and other systems through informatization capabilities, thereby reducing operational costs and improving the operational efficiency of offline pet stores.

According to Ai Chong Yi Sheng, its services currently cover more than 300 cities across China, serving over 13,000 pet hospitals and 17,000 pet stores. The platform has onboarded more than 30,000 licensed veterinarians, offers over 5,000 pet products for sale, and has established partnerships with more than 300 well-known pet brands both domestically and internationally. Moving forward, Ai Chong Yi Sheng will leverage market development opportunities in the pet industry to empower the sector through brand, resource, service, and management output, thereby enhancing the depth and breadth of its services.

Milestones in Financing and Key Product Developments for Ai Chong Doctor

In June 2015, secured angel-round investment amounting to several million RMB.

August 2015: Ai Chong Wen Zhen—An Online Veterinary Consultation Platform—Was Launched

In June 2016, AiChong Caigou—a one-stop B2B procurement platform for the pet industry—was launched.

June 2016: AiChong SaaS—Intelligent Management System for Pet Stores Launched

In September 2016, Ai Chong Yi Sheng completed its pre-A round of financing, led by Puhua Capital, with Ding Yi, a partner at Aiyun Investment, participating as a co-investor.

In November 2016, AiChong Fenqi—a supply chain finance service platform for the pet industry—was launched.

In June 2017, iPet Doctor completed a Series A financing round worth tens of millions of yuan, led by Probe Fund and participated in by CICC Capital.

March 2018: Love Pet Academy—An Online Training Platform for the Pet Industry, Launched

In July 2018, Ai Chong Pin Tuan—a group-buying platform for veterinary hospital equipment—was launched.

In August 2019, Ai Chong Yi Sheng completed a strategic financing round of RMB 130 million, invested by Yuyuan Inc., a subsidiary of Fosun.

At the press conference, Mr. Huang Zhen, Global Partner of Fosun Group and Executive President of Yuyuan Inc., presented Fosun’s Happy Fashion Industry Strategy and emphasized that pets occupy an important place in family life. Mr. Huang stated, “The most prominent character across the entire exhibition booth is ‘宠’ (chǒng, meaning ‘to pamper’ or ‘pet’), which aptly illustrates the significance of pets within the household.”

Regarding the rationale behind investing in Ai Chong Yisheng, Mr. Huang Zhen stated, “Investing in Ai Chong Yisheng is by no means merely about generating financial returns from a single enterprise; rather, it represents a critical step in Fosun International’s strategic layout within the pet industry. We are committed to executing our pet industry strategy with both speed and precision.”

Yuyuan Inc. is the flagship platform of Fosun’s Happiness and Fashion segment. Leveraging Fosun’s global platform and resource empowerment system, Yuyuan Inc. focuses on family-oriented customers and continuously builds its “1+1+1” strategy through industrial investment and operations, comprising “Happiness and Fashion Industries + Offline Happiness and Fashion Landmarks + Online Happiness and Fashion Family Entry Points.”

The rapidly growing pet market is a key focus area for Yuyuan Inc., a subsidiary of Fosun.

According to the 2018 White Paper on China's Pet Industry, the market size of China's pet industry has reached RMB 170.8 billion, representing a nearly five-fold increase compared to 2012. Public data indicate that the total number of pets in urban areas of China exceeds 100 million, with the industry's total output value projected to surpass RMB 200 billion in 2019.

At the press conference, Yu Wei, Vice President of Yuyuan Beauty & Health Group and General Manager of Yuyuan Pets, announced, “Hill’s is here,” and highlighted the collaboration between Yuyuan Inc. and Hill’s in brand channels. It is expected that, under the leadership of Yuyuan Inc., the Hill’s brand will be fully rolled out through the iPet Doctor channel.

In May 2019, according to public reports, Hill's had entered into a cooperation agreement with Yuyuan Inc., a listed company controlled by Fosun. Yuyuan Inc. officially became the exclusive distributor for the Hill's brand in mainland China, responsible for market promotion, channel development, online operations, and sales of Hill's products in the region.

Hill’s is one of the leading global pet food brands, a pioneer in the prescription diet category, and a leader in the pet food industry. Hill’s currently offers more than 200 products and 400 SKUs, spanning multiple subcategories for cats and dogs to address diverse dietary needs. These products cover common pet health conditions and concerns, such as oral care, digestive health, allergies, liver care, and urinary tract care. Each product is developed by veterinarians and nutrition scientists. Prescription Diet™ is a registered trademark of Hill’s, and its prescription diets have been ranked as the #1 brand recommended by U.S. veterinarians for many consecutive years.

In contrast to the asset-heavy model of competitors such as Ruipeng Pet Hospital, Yuyuan Inc. has rapidly entered the extensive “pet hospital + pet store + pet owner” value chain through an asset-light approach. In particular, by leveraging Aichong Doctor’s supply chain management capabilities, it has laid a solid foundation for establishing Hill’s distribution channels. Thus, investing in Aichong Doctor represents a rational strategic choice.

At the press conference, Yuyuan Inc. officially announced its strategic partnerships with Ringpai Pet Hospital and the China Kennel Union (CKU), also known as “Pet Love Kingdom.” Under the collaboration with Ringpai Pet, both parties will jointly establish a supply chain system for the pet healthcare industry, deepen resource cooperation, and create an upstream industrial consortium for pet medical services. The partnership with CKU will focus on deep integration of resources and market promotion in areas such as CKU event promotion and pet microchip adoption. Specific cooperation plans between Yuyuan Inc., Ringpai Pet, and CKU will be further implemented in future collaborations.

It is understood that Yuyuan Inc. will continue to integrate the upstream and downstream segments of the industry chain, creating better products and services for pet-owning consumers worldwide.