YiLiu Assistant Secures Tens of Millions in Series A Funding to Build a Comprehensive Oncology Care Management Platform
“Yi Liu Zhu Shou,” a representative player in the mobile health oncology vertical, recently announced that it had completed tens of millions of yuan in Series A financing in August, with investors including Puhua Capital, Yarui Capital, and Fenxuan Capital. Developed and operated by Nanjing Cactus Health Technology Co., Ltd., “Yi Liu Zhu Shou” is positioned as a comprehensive management service platform for oncology care throughout the entire patient journey.
In June 2015, “Yi Liu Zhu Shou” announced the completion of its tens-of-millions-level angel financing round, led by Wang Jun, a partner at Puhua Capital. VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) was the first to report on this development.
According to statistical data from the National Cancer Center, there were approximately 4.292 million new cases of malignant tumors and 2.814 million cancer-related deaths in China in 2015. In China, cancer has become the leading cause of disease-related mortality, with both incidence and mortality rates continuing to rise, making it a significant public health issue.
Due to the uneven distribution of medical resources and a scarcity of oncology specialists in China, there are significant disparities in cancer treatment outcomes between rural and urban areas, as well as between underdeveloped and developed regions. The five-year survival rate for cancer patients is 21.8% in rural areas, compared to 39.5% in urban areas. Geographically, the Southwest region has the highest cancer mortality rate, followed by North China and Northeast China. Major hospitals face severe bed shortages, with specialized oncology hospitals operating at an annual bed occupancy rate of 106.7%, indicating serious overcapacity. In contrast, first-tier city hospitals and private hospitals of similar levels have bed occupancy rates of only 60.1% and 63.1%, respectively.
Amid the grim reality of oncology care, where fundamental solutions are unlikely to emerge in the short term, the Yi Liu Zhu Shou (Oncology Assistant) project was launched. As the saying goes, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Peng Zhigang, the founder, believes that it is premature to speak of “disruption” at this stage. From the outset, the founding team of Yi Liu Zhu Shou established its mission: “To enhance the value of professionalism and uphold the dignity of life.” The project aims to leverage the mobile internet’s capabilities in connectivity, interaction, and information aggregation to improve overall industry efficiency and promote standardized practices and awareness within the existing oncology care ecosystem.
Peng Zhigang stated that since its inception, Yi Liu Zhu Shou has proudly become a corporate member of the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO). Subsequently, it launched the Yi Liu Zhu Shou client application and the official website for cancer patient education in China. In collaboration with the Beijing CSCO Clinical Oncology Research Foundation, it jointly established the “CSCO–Yi Liu Zhu Shou Patient Education Fund” to advance the development of cancer patient education in China, positioning itself as the most professional and authoritative entity in setting norms and standards within this field.
In October 2015, YiLiu Assistant innovatively developed a physician team-based patient management and follow-up system. This system implements features closely aligned with the medical ecosystem, including physician team collaboration, multidisciplinary team (MDT) discussions, trusted doctor-patient communication, bed reservation, adverse event reporting, and patient follow-up, thereby enhancing efficiency during cancer treatment phases. Leveraging this system, YiLiu Assistant has established in-depth collaborations with oncology departments at hundreds of large Grade A tertiary hospitals across China, serving over 12,000 oncology specialists and nearly 100,000 patients and their families.
In 2016, YiLiu Assistant addressed the uneven distribution of medical resources by aggregating expertise from renowned oncologists and further developing its consultation service module. This initiative enabled patients across China to “find the right doctors” and “find doctors correctly.” Additionally, YiLiu Assistant formed a strategic partnership with IBM Watson in China to jointly promote standardized diagnosis and treatment. The collaboration aims to support the advancement of oncology care in China through a dual-layer safeguard combining “expert consultations (human)” and “cognitive computing (AI).”
VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that YiLiu Assistant will integrate modules for patient education, doctor-patient interaction, and consultations, connecting the pre-diagnosis, during-diagnosis, and post-diagnosis stages. It is committed to building a comprehensive management platform for oncology care throughout the entire treatment journey, thereby promoting standardized cancer treatment.
OncoAssistCEO Zhang Zuo stated that he hopes “OncoAssist” will reshape the landscape of “New Healthcare,” placing patients at the center and breaking down barriers between hospitals and across geographic regions. Through OncoAssist, patients no longer need to fear cancer or resort to unproven folk remedies; instead, they can actively embrace standardized treatment, schedule appointments with the most suitable specialists with a single click online, and access multidisciplinary team (MDT) consultations when needed—or meet with multiple experts in person through a streamlined, one-stop offline process—thereby achieving personalized, high-quality follow-up care. Meanwhile, physicians can transcend the spatial and temporal constraints of traditional practice by serving patients through online platforms and MDT collaboration. Throughout the entire diagnostic and therapeutic journey, doctors and patients can communicate and provide feedback across time and space via OncoAssist, truly realizing comprehensive management of oncology care.
Increasing investment in Yi Liu Assistant reflects Puhua Capital’s profound understanding of medical innovation and its determination to strategically position itself in the oncology sector, according to Zhou Mi, Partner at Puhua Capital:“Bullish on the oncology healthcare sector in the long term, Puhua Medical has not only launched its “Oncology Assistant” this year but also successively invested in projects facilitating the localization of IBM Watson for Oncology in China, based in Hangzhou.「Cognitive Care」, as well as Yimei Hezhong, which integrates and scales high-quality global oncology healthcare resources, and Bao Guanjia, a company specializing in doctor-patient communication services for critical illnesses, with the aim of achieving synergy across the industry chain in the future.”
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