RuiPai Pet Hospitals Secures RMB 350 Million Strategic Investment from Huatai New Industry Fund, Goldman Sachs, and Tianjin Ruiji Bio; Files for IPO

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that on May 23, Ruipai Pet Hospital Management Co., Ltd. announced it had secured RMB 350 million in strategic investment from Huatai New Industry Fund, Goldman Sachs Group, and Tianjin Ruiji Biology.

In May last year, Ruipai Pet completed a financing round of RMB 240 million, with participation from A-share listed company Ringpu Biology and renowned investment bank Goldman Sachs, among others. Notably, both Ringpu Biology, an investor in this round, and Ruipai Pet are under the actual control of Mr. Li Shoujun.

Goldman Sachs Group continued to participate in the new round of financing. Mr. Li Shoujun also participated in this round through his affiliated company, Tianjin Ruiji Biotechnology. According to publicly available data, the RMB 350 million raised in this round set a new record for the largest single financing transaction in China’s chain pet hospital sector, and marked the largest single financing deal in China’s pet industry since 2018.

In China’s pet healthcare market, the three giants—New Ruipai Group, Hillhouse Capital-affiliated hospitals, and the Ruipeng-Medical United Alliance system—are the frontrunners in the first tier when ranked by the number of affiliated hospitals.

New Ruipai Pet Hospital Management Co., Ltd. is a large-scale chain organization specializing in the operation and management of pet hospital chains, with its headquarters located in Tianjin. Its investors include Goldman Sachs Group, the world’s leading investment bank, and Ringpu Biology (300119), a listed company in China. Currently, New Ruipai Pet operates thirteen management companies across China—namely, Ruipai Donghua, Ruipai Jinhua, Ruipai Jinghua, Ruipai Dongbei, Ruipai Nanhua, Ruipai Jinshen, Ruipai Huazhong, Ruipai Luhua, Ruipai Henan, Ruipai Guangzhou, Ruipai Minhua, Ruipai Huaxi, and Ruipai Haihua—with a presence in 40 cities and more than 300 hospitals. Its business scope covers pet medical care, grooming, and the sale of pet food and supplies, with an annual patient volume exceeding 2 million cases.

As of May 19 last year, the Ruipai network comprised a total of 140 veterinary hospitals. Based on this figure, the number of veterinary hospitals under the Ruipai brand doubled in just one year.

Ruipai Pet currently has a medical and management team of nearly 3,000 employees, including 9 individuals with doctoral degrees, 105 with master’s degrees, and over 1,000 veterinary professionals.

This round of financing will focus on the expansion, operation, maintenance, and upgrading of clinics; the establishment of Ruipai Academy and the cultivation of reserve talent; the recruitment of high-end professionals; the research, development, and upgrading of key technologies and premium services; and the implementation of advanced technologies, efficient management, and services. By comprehensively enhancing Ruipai’s overall strength and expanding its industrial scale from the four perspectives of production, education, research, and application.

Developed countries and regions, including the United States, Europe, Japan, and South Korea, lead the global pet market. As the world’s largest consumer of pet products, the United States has long entered a mature stage of industry development, with sales in its pet industry exceeding RMB 430 billion in 2017.

China’s rapid growth in recent years has driven its pet market size to RMB 134 billion by the end of 2017, a figure that is still only equivalent to the U.S. market level during 1996–1997. While 65% of households in the United States own at least one pet, the corresponding rates are 36% in Germany and 28% in Japan; in China, fewer than 10% of households owned pets in 2017. As the world’s second-largest economy and the consumer market with the largest population globally, China is witnessing trends such as population aging, an increase in “empty-nest” households, and declining birth rates, alongside a younger demographic driving demand for companion animals and emotional consumption. Coupled with the rapid expansion of urbanization, these factors point to broad prospects for China’s pet industry and significant future growth potential in the veterinary healthcare sector.

Mr. Sun Ming, Vice Chairman of Ruipai Pet Healthcare Group, stated, “Ruipai has established its industrial presence across Northeast, North, East, West, Central, and South China. With a network of over 300 hospitals and an annual patient volume exceeding 2 million cases, our scale holds significant positive implications for studying the development of China’s pet healthcare industry, as well as the actual spending power and consumption concepts of Chinese pet owners. Furthermore, it provides a robust data foundation for product design in the insurance industry. Therefore, we will continue to deepen our exploration in areas such as industry collaboration, consumer finance services, and pet insurance, contributing to the rapid growth of China’s pet healthcare sector.”

At today’s press conference, Ruipai also announced the establishment of strategic partnerships with multiple platforms. Among them, Goumin.com, as China’s most active vertical platform for pets, will be responsible for collaborative efforts such as brand communication and industry data analysis for Ruipai Pet Hospitals.

Reference: Pet Industry Insider