MedCircle Secures RMB 150 Million in New Funding to Build China's Premier Doctor Learning and Service Platform

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat)April 19 News: “Yixuejie,” a leading medical new media platform, announced that it has secured RMB 150 million in a new round of financing, exclusively invested by Yadong Xingchen, owned by top-tier investors.

It is reported that this round of financing will be primarily used to strengthen “Medical Circle”’s leading position in the market for physician education and services. In the future, “Medical Circle” will strive to build a comprehensive physician learning and service platform centered on physicians, connecting hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, insurers, and other players across the industry chain, thereby empowering both physicians and the healthcare industry.

“Medical Circle” was founded in 2012, starting as a print magazine before quickly expanding into social media and subsequently experiencing rapid growth on mobile platforms. It has established a large-scale WeChat matrix with precisely targeted audiences on the WeChat platform. Currently, the total number of subscribers to the “Medical Circle” WeChat matrix has exceeded 6 million, firmly securing its position as the leading source of mobile reading traffic among physicians. The main “Medical Circle” account alone boasts 1.5 million subscribers, with over 60% of its audience comprising physicians.

In September 2015, the medical community announced the launch of “Doctor Station,” an app centered on peer-to-peer learning for physicians. The platform offers a suite of features, including online video lectures, medical news, technical discussions, and case sharing. Currently, Doctor Station has 1.3 million registered users and has become one of the most widely used medical apps in China by daily active users.

Doctor Station App Splash Screen

At the end of 2015, “Medical World” announced that it had secured RMB 20 million in Series A financing, jointly invested by DaoTong Capital and iKang Guobin.

The lead investor of this funding round stated that the learning and professional growth of physicians constitute the most significant bottleneck to the upgrading and equalization of medical services in China. Yishengjie (Doctors’ Station) is committed to providing Chinese physicians with convenient learning opportunities through a “peer-to-peer physician learning” model, which aligns with the overarching logic of “supply-side structural reform.” This project holds substantial social value—the founding team’s vision of “serving physicians and improving healthcare” deeply resonated with the investment team.

According to its team’s survey, “Yixuejie” has already ranked among the industry’s top tier in medical media and physician learning platforms. Its WeChat matrix boasts the highest traffic of medical professionals in the industry, while the Daily Active Users (DAU) of its “Doctor Station” app leads the sector. Meanwhile, Yixuejie maintains robust operations and rapid business growth, having achieved profitability in 2017. “We are very pleased to invest in Yixuejie, as we believe in this team’s explosive potential.”

Chen Qirui, founder of “DXY,” stated, “The disparity in the professional competence of doctors in China is a significant issue. By leveraging new technologies and collaborative learning models to ensure that physicians eager to learn can access high-quality educational resources anytime and anywhere, we can partially address this challenge. Providing Chinese physicians with convenient learning opportunities will be the new mission of the DXY team. With the support of our investors, we are confident in realizing our vision: ‘Just as the United States has Medscape and Japan has M3, China has DXY.’”

“Medical World” Founder and CEO Chen Qirui

Chen Qirui stated, “Yixuejie” spent three years becoming the medical new media platform with the largest number of users on WeChat, and another three years establishing Doctor Station APP as one of the medical apps with the highest daily active users. Over the next three years, the company will devote all its efforts to building China’s premier learning and service platform for physicians, thereby contributing to the “Healthy China” strategy.

“Yixuejie” is China’s leading new media platform in the medical field. It operates more than 20 WeChat official accounts, reaching a total of 6 million WeChat users. Its online learning platform for physicians, the Yishengzhan (Doctor Station) app, has 1.3 million registered users and provides high-quality medical news and video lectures via mobile devices.