Three Medical Startups — TumorLink, TCM Home, and AsthmaCare — Secure Incubation Deals with Yilian Space Following Chengdu-Chongqing Mobile Health Pitch Competition

On Sunday, October 30, 2016, despite the chilly weather, the conference room on the third floor of Building C1 at Chengdu Tianfu Software Park was packed with entrepreneurs, investors, and media representatives from Sichuan and Chongqing. Amidst continuous applause and laughter, the 2016 Medlinker Space Launch Event and the Sichuan-Chongqing Mobile Health Startup Competition were held here.

In 2014, Medlinker was founded in Chengdu as an internet company dedicated to serving the healthcare industry. Its clients include physicians, hospitals, and numerous medical institutions. The company operates multiple products and business lines, having now established“Medlinker APP”, “Medlinker Connect APP”, “Medlinker Cloud”Three business segments. The three business segments are interconnected and fully integrated, while Yilian is continuously connecting doctors, hospitals, patients, pharmaceutical companies, and medical device manufacturers.

According to sources at Medlinker, Medlinker currently400,000 verified physicians registered, of whom 75% are attending physicians or above; 230,000 are affiliated with Grade A tertiary hospitals; and 5,000 medical institutions have deep partnerships....After two years of dedicated efforts, Medlinker has amassed extensive medical resources within the industry.

During its development, Yilian andTencent Investment and M&A Department, Yunfeng Capital, China Renaissance, Sequoia Capital China, IDG Capital, Puhua Capital, PreAngelEstablished strong partnerships with leading domestic investment institutions.

“Resources and financial support are two critical factors in the entrepreneurial process. Medlinker is committed to sharing all its startup resources, providing channels, resources, technology, and guidance—offering everything conceivable to incubated enterprises.”Under Wang Shirui’s “sharing mindset,” Medlink Space was launched this July in the Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone.

According to Long Fei, head of Medlink Space, the facility offers over 2,000 square meters of office space. Tenant companies not only enjoy free office premises but also gain access to Medlink’s strategic partnerships and brand resources, along with investments exceeding RMB 1 million from Medlink, as well as technical and strategic support.

Wang Shirui stated to VCBeat, “Medlinker Space will partner with entrepreneurs in the fields of mobile health and digital wellness, providing support from the perspectives of physicians, hospitals, and investors. Through an innovative ecosystem incubation model, vertical-sector projects will gain access to superior resources, nurturing, environments, and greater support, while simultaneously reinforcing the broader Medlinker ecosystem to establish a robust systemic platform.”

VCBeat has learned that over one hundred medical and health-related enterprises registered for this competition, from which 11 startup teams were ultimately selected to present their projects. These projects span areas such as nursing and rehabilitation, remote imaging interpretation, and chain clinics of traditional Chinese medicine.

Notable investors serving as judges for this competition include Li Na from Yunfeng Capital, Mu Yifei from Tencent’s Investment and M&A Department, Sun Jian from China Renaissance Capital, Zhai Jia from Sequoia Capital China, Fei Suchen from IDG Capital, Li Yang from Puhua Capital, and Mao Pingping from PreAngel.

The organizers of this competition adopted a virtual funding model, inviting investors to place bids on projects of interest. Among the pitched projects, Yizhan Technology secured a joint investment of RMB 50 million from Tencent and Yunfeng Capital, making it the project with the highest investment amount in the competition.

VCBeat provides a brief introduction to the 11 projects participating in the roadshow as follows.

Yingling provides radiology departments and physicians at hospitals across China with services for communication, learning, assessment, and remote diagnosis. By enhancing physicians’ professional capabilities and strengthening hospitals’ influence, Yingling delivers superior diagnostic services to patients.

Pingchuan Zhidao is a pediatric asthma follow-up software that, by integrating the practical needs of both physicians and patients, aims to transform the outdated practice of telephone-based follow-ups and ultimately address the challenges of tracking and managing wheezing disorders.

Founded in late 2015, TCM Home uses offline traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinics as its entry point and will gradually launch a SaaS system for TCM clinics, along with customer-facing and physician-facing “TCM Steward” mobile apps. It is committed to building a comprehensive business ecosystem integrating “TCM Home,” “TCM Steward,” and “Chinese Herbal Medicine Home.” The company has secured its first round of investment from Hexin Pharmaceutical Group.

Chengdu Leyu Health Care Co., Ltd. was established in April 2008 as the first formally registered professional nursing and rehabilitation service company in China. The company currently employs over 600 professional caregivers, more than 40 rehabilitation therapists and medical staff, and boasts a team of experienced experts. It is committed to providing a one-stop service platform for hospitalized patients and individuals undergoing rehabilitation, including inpatient care, medical rehabilitation, and home nursing services.

NORGEN Health is committed to building an ecosystem for China’s inbound medical tourism internet platform. The company focuses on conditions such as diabetes, hematologic disorders, stem cell therapy for nerve injury and degenerative diseases, and comprehensive oncology treatment. To date, it has partnered with more than 20 renowned domestic medical institutions. Its first overseas expansion target is Indonesia in Southeast Asia; the Indonesian subsidiary has been fully established, marking the company’s formal entry into the Southeast Asian market. In late 2015, it received its first round of investment from DXY.cn.

TumorLink is a tiered diagnosis and treatment platform for oncology. Targeting the two major bottlenecks hindering the implementation of tiered medical care—namely, "two-way referral" and "initial consultation at primary care institutions"—it redirects chemotherapy services to primary hospitals based on the specific characteristics of cancer treatment. Furthermore, it substantially enhances the chemotherapy proficiency of primary care physicians, thereby addressing patients’ reluctance to seek treatment at primary healthcare facilities.

Langrui Medical will leverage the SaaS model to drive technological innovation in the ECG examination process for healthcare institutions, making electrocardiogram (ECG) and ambulatory ECG diagnostics (including remote services) simple, fast, accurate, and intelligent.

One-Question Medical Answer is a platform dedicated to providing instant video-based responses for medical consultations. It operates under two models: free and paid. Patients submit their questions online, and authoritative medical experts provide precise solutions. The platform adopts a "share-to-benefit" model, where a single video consultation can be shared multiple times, generating recurring revenue. A robust pool of physician resources ensures continuous service delivery, while patient inquiry incentives help rapidly expand the user base.

Healthkeepers is a B2B2C health management platform that leverages health data analytics to bridge the gap between individuals, families, enterprises, medical institutions, and health management organizations. By establishing an innovative business model, it helps B-side enterprises select more rational health management solutions, effectively reducing corporate health and human resource risks. Meanwhile, it builds a health service platform for C-side users, connecting them with higher-quality services and empowering them to make more informed decisions.

Yiqingtang employs an integrated TCM external therapy and internal regulation diagnostic and treatment system, supported by a SaaS management platform, to address common non-critical conditions that are not self-medicated. Through rapid replication via chain franchising, it establishes a 15-minute accessible clinical service network.

Yizhan Technology is an innovative provider of digital medical imaging solutions. By integrating computer internet technologies, medical imaging techniques, and healthcare resources, it has revolutionized the landscape of medical imaging diagnosis. The company offers a comprehensive suite of solutions and professional services, including medical imaging, image-based diagnosis, Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS), mobile healthcare, telemedicine, and integrated imaging operations management. Yizhan Technology is one of the drafting organizations for China’s healthcare industry standard on “Digital Imaging Connectivity.” In March 2016, it secured Series B financing from Northern Light Venture Capital and Matrix Partners China.