Shanghai Etong Announces Completion of Tens-of-Millions RMB Pre-A Funding Round, Drawing Attention to Its Population Health Management SaaS Cloud Platform

Yu Jun, Founder of Yitong

On January 3, 2017, Shanghai Yitong Information Technology Co., Ltd., China’s first provider of a cloud-based platform for population health management, announced that it had completed a tens-of-millions-yuan Pre-A financing round in November, led by Hainan Huantai.

With the completion of this funding round, Yitong will optimize its product portfolio, accelerate the development of collaborative models with health insurance companies and healthcare service providers, and initiate government partnerships to implement population-level health and chronic disease management programs, while establishing foundational data models and analytical methodologies for medical big data.

Shanghai Yitong Information Technology Co., Ltd. was registered in January 2015 and secured millions of yuan in angel investment during its early stages. “Yi Jiankang,” a population health management platform, is Yitong’s core product. It is grounded in case management theories from U.S. health insurance companies and draws on advanced U.S. chronic disease management processes and system architectures to provide tracking, intervention, and management services for individuals with suboptimal health and chronic conditions.

Yi Health is a health service model that offers flexible customization to meet the business needs of insurance companies, health management organizations, and healthcare providers, serving millions of users. Current clients with whom Yi has established in-depth collaborations include well-known domestic health insurance and medical institutions such as China Pacific Insurance, Sunshine Insurance, the Chinese PLA General Hospital (301 Hospital), and Shanghai Children’s Medical Center. The Yi Health SaaS cloud platform has already connected more than 1,500 hospitals and health management organizations.

Yitong’s core team comprises experts from renowned medical institutions such as Sutter Health in the United States, PLA General Hospital (301 Hospital), and Xinhua Hospital, as well as specialists with over a decade of experience in IT, industry operations, and marketing from Fortune 500 companies including IBM, Accenture, HP, Dell, Aetna, Alibaba, and Schneider Electric.

Yitong’s business has developed in tandem with the Chinese government’s policy orientation toward the big health industry in recent years. In August 2016, the State Council issued the Outline of the “Healthy China 2030” Plan, which sets forth goals for 2030, including expanding the scale of the health industry, significantly enhancing health service capacity, and effectively controlling health risk factors.

According to a global survey released by the World Health Organization, 75% of the population is in a state of sub-health. The demand for health management is expected to rise rapidly in the future, indicating a huge potential market size for the health industry. Relevant data show that China’s health industry market reached RMB 2 trillion by 2015. According to forecasts by China Investment Consulting Industry Research Center, the scale of China’s health industry was RMB 4.9 trillion in 2017 and is projected to reach RMB 12.9 trillion in 2021, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 27.26% over the five-year period from 2017 to 2021. The state’s vigorous development of the broader health industry signals substantial market growth opportunities for Yi Jiankang in the future.

Yitong’s founder, Yu Jun, brings over 20 years of experience in advanced medical and health management, both domestically and internationally, and holds unique insights into China’s internet healthcare industry. “The domestic health management market offers substantial room for growth. Leveraging favorable conditions—including government support for internet healthcare, the implementation of tiered diagnosis and treatment systems, and the continuous maturation of commercial health insurance—Yitong is poised to seize market opportunities and establish a health management system tailored to the needs of the Chinese population,” stated Yu Jun.

Regarding this financing round, Yu Jun stated, “Amid the capital winter, Yitong’s ability to secure this round of financing against the trend and win the support and trust of investors in specialized fields has bolstered our confidence in becoming a professional leader in comprehensive health management. After two years of arduous entrepreneurship, we have defined our product and market direction and validated customer needs. 2017 will be a year for scaling up our business operations.”

With this round of financing, Yitong will further enhance the functionality and user experience of its Yi Health products, while deeper integrating Yi Health services into sectors such as health insurance companies, hospitals, health management organizations, and senior living real estate. Capitalizing on the national momentum behind the development of the broader health industry, Yitong aims to connect insurance institutions, healthcare providers, and individuals with health needs through high-quality services, thereby supplementing the public’s health requirements.