Deepwise Medical Completes $430M in Three Rounds Within a Year, Files for IPO

On April 2, VCBeat learned thatDeepWise officially announced the completion of its RMB 150 million Series B financing round, led by Legend Capital, with participation from Legend Star. Existing investors from the Series A round, Kunzhong Capital and Danhua Capital,DaoTong Investment,Tongdu Capital and Hongdao Capital continued to participate in the follow-on investment. This brings the cumulative funding raised in Series A, Series A+, and Series B rounds to RMB 300 million within one year of the company’s establishment.。

VCBeat’s database shows that DeepWise, having been established for only one year, has completed three rounds of financing to date, with the total amount reaching RMB 300 million, setting a record for the fastest fundraising pace in the industry. The first two rounds were as follows:

In April 2017, DeepWise completed its RMB 35 million Series A financing round, with investors including Kunzhong Capital, Hongtai Fund, and Fenghe Investment.

In November 2017, DeepWise completed its RMB 115 million Series A+ financing round, led by Danhua Capital, with participation from Daotong Investment, Tongdu, Hongdao, Kunzhong, and Fengying.

Qiao Xin, Founder and CEO of DeepWise, told VCBeat that the funds from this round will primarily be allocated to the following three areas:

Regarding the reasons for securing this round of financing, Qiao Xin stated that, on one hand, it is attributable to DeepWise’s robust scientific research capabilities. Originating from the Artificial Intelligence Innovation Center at Peking University’s School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science, the company’s R&D team has accumulated extensive and profound experience in artificial intelligence development. As one of the earliest pioneers in China, DeepWise boasts leading scientific research capabilities. In addition to its own outstanding team of researchers, DeepWise places significant emphasis on collaborating with academic resources from prestigious universities such as Peking University.

Furthermore, DeepWise has numerous high-quality research projects and achievements in regions with the most advanced AI technologies, such as North America. This enables DeepWise to continuously access the latest industry technologies, thereby maintaining the leading edge of its products.

On the other hand, DeepWise has a profound understanding and grasp of the medical AI industry. Qiao Xin stated that DeepWise has rapidly assembled a large group of top-tier artificial intelligence talents and medical imaging experts from both China and abroad. These professionals possess years of experience in clinical practice, marketing, and other areas within the healthcare sector. The company’s robust and well-rounded core team, with each member contributing their unique strengths, jointly drives the company’s steady growth—a factor highly valued by investment institutions.

In terms of products, DeepWise’s solutions in the fields of pulmonology, breast imaging, stroke, and orthopedics have reached a mature stage and are currently undergoing clinical trials. Qiao Xin stated, “These products are being prepared for entry into the formal medical certification and approval process. DeepWise strictly adheres to national regulations governing the healthcare industry for product approvals. We believe that with the advancement of artificial intelligence technology, the state will introduce corresponding new regulations and policies. Should any new national policies be issued, we will fully comply with the established national standards.”

Regarding implementation, Qiao Xin stated that the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is primarily aimed at helping physicians improve efficiency and accuracy. AI manifests in various forms and product models, ranging from specific intelligent products to certain types of intelligent services. In essence, AI must be seamlessly integrated into every stage of healthcare, including diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation, to empower existing medical products and services, thereby enhancing the efficiency and accuracy of clinical care.

During the implementation process, Qiao Xin firmly believes that meeting clinical needs is the true value of an enterprise. For instance, at present, artificial intelligence technology can accurately screen for pulmonary nodules and even label them as benign or malignant. However, this merely enhances the accuracy of existing computer-aided diagnosis systems. Moreover, due to factors such as clinical practice guidelines or patient psychology, this process may lead to issues like overmedicalization or patient anxiety. Only when AI technology is integrated into medical workflows—including treatment and rehabilitation follow-up—can it truly address genuine clinical needs.

Moreover, when integrated into clinical practice, artificial intelligence (AI) also has its drawbacks. For instance, AI’s limitations in interaction highlight a natural advantage of human physicians: their ability to engage effectively with patients. Nevertheless, AI possesses unparalleled strengths in areas such as learning capacity and data organization. AI practitioners should therefore leverage these advantages to develop new services or products, maximizing strengths while mitigating weaknesses, thereby empowering healthcare delivery.

Mr. Li Jiaqing, Managing Director of Legend Capital, the lead investor in this round, pointed out: “Medical imaging is the most critical tool for clinical diagnosis and differential diagnosis in modern medicine. The continuous enrichment of imaging technologies has transformed medical imaging from a supplementary examination tool into the primary information source for physicians’ diagnostic decision-making at present, with nearly 70% of clinical diagnoses relying on medical imaging. The value of AI in medical imaging lies in facilitating efficient collaboration between clinicians and radiologists, thereby reducing misdiagnosis rates. As data becomes a new factor of production, artificial intelligence technology creates an entirely new supply of medical services. However, mere technological breakthroughs in isolated areas are far from sufficient for AI in medical imaging. A profound understanding of the healthcare industry is crucial for the practical implementation of products. DeepWise is a medical AI technology company that holds a leading position in the industry across comprehensive capabilities, including scientific research, engineering technology, product design, and marketing and sales. It is best positioned to stand out in market competition.”

It is reported that Legend Capital’s portfolio in the medical AI sector includes, in addition to DeepWise, investments in Diyingjia (a medical pathology imaging company), Lunit (a South Korean X-ray imaging enterprise), and Genetron Health (a genetic big data company). Coupled with its earlier investments in KingMed Diagnostics (a leading third-party medical testing provider), Berry Genomics (a gene sequencing company), and digital imaging equipment providers Kangzhong Medical and Kangda Medical, DeepWise will leverage Legend Capital’s industrial resources to explore application collaborations with these related companies and generate synergies.

Mr. Zhang Dadi, Founding Partner of Danhua Capital China Fund and the lead investor in DeepWise’s Series A+ round, stated that DeepWise is a rare company in the AI healthcare sector that possesses both first-class artificial intelligence technological reserves and profound accumulation and insights into the medical industry. A critical factor for the success of a startup is its comprehensive capabilities, especially in high-barrier industries like healthcare, where the management team must have deep industry heritage and influence. DeepWise’s CEO, Qiao Xin, is a highly respected senior expert in the field, having served as General Manager of Siemens Healthineers’ Medical Imaging Division for nearly 15 years. He has an in-depth and clear understanding of the medical imaging industry and has managed large teams of hundreds of employees. The core technical team members mostly come from senior development teams at BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent), many holding doctoral degrees, demonstrating strong R&D capabilities. Mr. Zhang Dadi is very optimistic about the DeepWise team led by Qiao Xin. With such an elite team fully committed to the opportunity-rich domestic AI healthcare sector, they possess the qualifications and strength to become an industry leader, inevitably shaping the market landscape and establishing themselves as a unicorn enterprise in the AI healthcare field.

Wang Jun, Founding Managing Partner of Kunzhong Capital—the lead investor in the Series A round and a continuing investor in this round—believes that DeepWise has made significant progress in its product lineup over the past year. Meanwhile, DeepWise’s team has been substantially strengthened, assembling top-tier talent from China and abroad in fields such as artificial intelligence, medical imaging, and big data. Kunzhong Capital has made extensive and in-depth investments in the AI sector. We believe this is a long-term track, and DeepWise has the potential to become a front-runner.

Sun Qi, Managing Partner of Daotong Investment, which participated in this round of co-investment, stated that as an early investor in DeepWise, Daotong Investment’s decision to increase its stake in this financing round demonstrates its firm confidence in the development of artificial intelligence and its transformative impact on the healthcare industry from the supply side. Daotong Investment is highly optimistic about DeepWise’s potential to become an absolute leader in the industry. The DeepWise team possesses extensive expertise in both the healthcare sector and AI technology. Its rich product pipeline integrates seamlessly with clinical scenarios, a rare and valuable combination in the AI healthcare field. Leveraging its deep understanding of healthcare, DeepWise’s products are better aligned with the needs of clinicians, truly embedding AI diagnostic methods into existing diagnostic and treatment workflows, thereby enhancing the efficiency and quality of current medical services. We are eager to collaborate with TMT funds, leveraging Daotong’s healthcare service resources to support DeepWise’s faster and more sustainable growth.

Ms. Wu Ronghui, Founding Managing Partner of Tongdu Capital, believes that in the relatively crowded field of medical imaging AI, DeepWise is the fastest-moving company. Although founded only in 2017, the company has made remarkable progress in both business development and financing within just one year. This success is primarily attributable to the team’s two years of prior accumulation in technical product development and their over 20 years of experience in the medical imaging industry. Thanks to this deep industry expertise, DeepWise has been able to rapidly identify suitable clinical application scenarios, accelerating product deployment, and effectively grasp key milestones in the industry adoption of innovative medical imaging AI products. Tongdu Capital will continue to support teams like DeepWise that possess combined industry and technical backgrounds, working together to leverage artificial intelligence to improve service quality and optimize cost structures in the healthcare sector.

Following this round of financing, DeepWise will collaborate with like-minded companies to develop solutions in related fields. In the future, DeepWise will intensify its R&D efforts, closely monitor the latest advancements in artificial intelligence and related industries, and maintain the forward-looking nature of its technology and products. Regarding overseas expansion, DeepWise is adopting a broader perspective; in addition to the North American market, it will gradually expand into the European market.