Huazhi Micro-Invasive Completes Tens of Millions of RMB Series A Financing to Advance Neurosurgical Robotics Innovation

Recently, HuaZhi Micro-Invasive, a leading Chinese manufacturer of minimally invasive surgical robots, officially announced the completion of its tens-of-millions-yuan Series A financing round. The round was led by Tongsheng Capital, with Hemeng Venture Capital participating as a co-investor. China Renaissance Alpha served as the exclusive financial advisor for this financing.

Huazhi Microinvasive is the earliest enterprise in China engaged in the research and development of neurosurgical surgical robots, with 19 years of technological accumulation. Its core product, the "CAS-R-2 Frameless Stereotactic Neurosurgical System," a neurosurgical navigation and positioning surgical robot, is the first medical robot in China with fully independent intellectual property rights. It has passed CFDA registration four times and has been included in the scope of medical insurance reimbursement. Meanwhile, the CAS-R-2 surgical robot is currently the minimally invasive surgical robot with the largest number of clinical cases in China, having completed nearly 100,000 surgeries to date, with over 10,000 cases documented in literature and no reports of adverse events.

Currently, the CAS-R-2 surgical robot can assist physicians in treating a variety of neurosurgical conditions, including intracerebral hemorrhage, brain abscesses, brain biopsies, removal of intracranial foreign bodies, intratumoral radiotherapy for intracranial tumors, implantation of chemotherapy ports, lesioning of intracranial nuclei, implantation of intracranial electrodes (DBS/SEEG), assistance in microscopic surgery (positioning), and assistance in ventriculoscopy (positioning and holding). The clinical application scope of the Huazhi CAS-R-2 surgical robot is broader than that of ROSA, the globally renowned neurosurgical surgical robot. It not only supports major complex procedures applicable to ROSA, such as SEEG and DBS, but also facilitates routine surgeries commonly performed at primary care hospitals, such as those for cerebral hemorrhage and biopsies. In clinical practice, the CAS-R-2 achieves an actual accuracy of within 0.8 mm, representing a significant improvement over the 2 mm accuracy of ROSA, while its price is only 30% of that of ROSA.

Owing to its superior precision, safety validated by over 100,000 clinical cases, and broader scope of clinical applications, the CAS-R-2 has been installed and utilized in nearly 100 renowned hospitals across China, including Huashan Hospital, Xuanwu Hospital, the General Hospital of the Chinese PLA Army, Beijing Tiantan Puhua Hospital, and the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University. It is currently the only neurosurgical surgical robot in China with an installed base exceeding 100 units, achieving large-scale production, sales, and clinical application.

Zhang Weigang, co-founder of Huazhi Microinvasive, stated, “Huazhi has accumulated 19 years of R&D experience in the field of minimally invasive surgical robotics. We possess substantial technological and product pipelines. Currently, we have developed portable robots designed for emergency needs such as cerebral hemorrhage, active-arm free-form neurosurgical robots, and supporting consumables and solutions for various surgical procedures. Furthermore, we are extending our technological capabilities to other application areas. Our independently developed abdominal ultrasound-guided interventional surgical robot is now in the late stages of R&D, marking it as the first domestically owned intellectual property surgical robot in the field of abdominal ultrasound-guided interventions in China. The company has experienced rapid sales growth over the past two years. We project a mass production capacity of 500 units by 2019, with the goal of becoming an international leader in the field of minimally invasive precision medical devices within five years.”

Zhou Xiang, Managing Director of China Renaissance and Head of China Renaissance Alpha, stated, “Since its inception, Huazhi Micro-Invasive has consistently remained at the forefront of the domestic minimally invasive surgical robotics sector. The company not only possesses robust, top-tier R&D and technical capabilities, but over the past year, we have been delighted to see Huazhi Micro-Invasive become the first medical surgical robotics enterprise in China to independently develop core components such as motors and reducers. This achievement thoroughly resolves the long-standing issue of supply chain instability that has plagued domestically produced medical robots, thereby enabling Huazhi Micro-Invasive to evolve from being the first neurosurgical robotics company in China to obtain CFDA certification into the first medical device enterprise in the country to achieve mass production and large-scale sales nationwide. China Renaissance Alpha is honored to continue assisting the company with its financing. We firmly believe that following this round of funding, and with the gradual rollout of Huazhi’s new products across multiple fields, Huazhi Micro-Invasive will move one step closer to its goal of becoming a globally leading R&D enterprise for medical surgical robots.”