YiLiu Assistant Files IPO Prospectus: A Tumor-Focused Digital Health Platform Anchored in In-Clinic Care

This is Zhang Zuo's first time visiting Beijing in early winter.

At noon, Nanjing still basked in its characteristic languid sunshine, but temperatures plummeted sharply once the sun set. This mirrors capital’s attitude toward internet healthcare: while the capital market exhibited strong enthusiasm for various startup projects in the first half of the year, that fervor waned by more than half in the second half. As investment trends shifted, entrepreneurs themselves endured repeated trials of extreme contrasts, swinging between fiery optimism and icy reality.

The First 100 Days Before Starting a Business

In the traditional pharmaceutical industry, Zhang Zuo had a six-year entrepreneurial journey. Now venturing into the internet healthcare sector, his previously established and relatively mature entrepreneurial methodology faces new challenges: “When we first launched ‘OncoAssistant,’ two little figures were constantly battling in my mind: one represented medical thinking, and the other, internet thinking.” How to fully integrate these two mindsets and enable them to work in synergy has been the central question Zhang Zuo has been contemplating and validating over the past year.

Zhang Zuo explained that the traditional healthcare industry’s product mindset prioritizes comprehensiveness and perfection. For instance, before a drug can be launched, it must undergo rigorous testing—including bioactivity and toxicology studies—as well as multiple phases of clinical trials to ensure safety and efficacy. Only after passing through layers of regulatory approval can it reach the market, a process that typically takes nearly a decade, with few modifications made thereafter. In contrast, the internet product mindset emphasizes a spiral progression of rapid “hypothesis formulation–development–validation and feedback–rapid iteration.” Most physicians find it difficult to accept imperfect products, particularly minimum viable products (MVPs) common in digital health.

“But the market won’t give you enough time to perfect your product. Moreover, there are few proven solutions in the internet healthcare industry as a whole; everything is new, requiring exploration while moving forward—this is precisely what makes the sector so compelling,” Zhang Zuo told VCBeat. This demands that entrepreneurs have sufficient patience to identify early-adopter seed users (physicians) willing to try their product, thereby gathering user feedback and support. Ultimately, Zhang Zuo and his team completed user research addressing 100 pain points experienced by physicians and patients.

Meanwhile, Zhang Zuo and his team sought insights from internet companies, consulting product experts at Tencent, Alibaba, and Tuniu, as well as within Hangzhou’s product community. They also read all the highly regarded books on internet products available on the market and made a special trip to Hangzhou to meet Su Jie, author of Everyone Is a Product Manager. To identify opportunities in their target field, Zhang reviewed over a hundred domestic and international research reports and downloaded and studied all the then-prominent internet healthcare apps. This process spanned 100 days, essentially completing the ecosystem logic analysis typically conducted by an investment research team. Zhang’s pocket notebook was filled with dense notes capturing his key takeaways and reflections. His goal was to develop a distinctive and effective internet healthcare product focused on oncology.

“This was a period of 100 days of total immersion, a process that cannot be skipped and must be undertaken by the founder personally. As Chun Yin (a prominent influencer and thought leader in the internet product space) has stated, the core essence of a new product lies in the founding team’s unique understanding of it—the founder’s innate vision of what the product ‘should look like.’” Zhang Zuo said, “It is from this unique imagination that features, interactions, and visual design subsequently emerge.”

After 100 days of in-depth research, Zhang Zuo discovered that existing internet healthcare products had failed to effectively address the pain points associated with cancer, a uniquely complex and fatal chronic disease. He concluded that a heavily specialized, multi-scenario approach was required, with a focus on identifying the most suitable entry point.

The entry point chosen by the Oncology Assistant is intra-consultation.

Using the Consultation Process as an Entry Point

In March, the public version of YiLiu Assistant was launched, and it completed a multi-million yuan angel investment round in June. In July, the physician version of YiLiu Assistant was released, with promotion commencing in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. In late September, YiLiu Assistant made its debut at the CSCO (Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology) Annual Conference, marking the start of its nationwide promotion across China. Positioned as a comprehensive oncology care management service platform, YiLiu Assistant enters the market through in-clinic scenarios, providing services such as care team management, patient education, hospitalization coordination, doctor-patient communication, and medical record management for both healthcare providers and patients.

“Becoming the founder of Yi Liu Zhu Shou (Cancer Care Assistant) may have been destiny; I call it a mission with warmth.” With over a decade of work experience, Zhang Zuo served as a product manager and marketing executive in the consumer electronics sector, harboring a deep passion for product development. He earned a master’s degree in Internet of Things Engineering and even invested in and participated in R&D projects for novel anti-tumor drugs. Zhang Zuo says he now feels that all his prior experiences were preparation for this entrepreneurial venture. During the years he worked on anti-tumor medications, friends frequently approached him to help their ill relatives navigate the cancer care journey, find doctors, and locate nursing facilities. Recognizing that individual efforts are limited while collective action can build an enterprise that helps more people in need, Zhang Zuo partnered with Peter, a medical investment professional, to embark on the entrepreneurial journey of Yi Liu Zhu Shou.

Prior to the launch of OncoAssist, the dominant oncology-focused mobile applications on the market included Kang’ai Weishi (Cancer Warrior), Yi Suizhen (Easy Follow-up), and Yi Jiayi (Easy Plus Medical). Kang’ai Weishi positioned itself as a peer support and information-sharing platform for cancer patients and their families; Yi Suizhen specialized in post-diagnosis follow-up care; and Yi Jiayi initially focused on pre-consultation services before pivoting to become a doctor-patient platform centered on post-consultation care. Clearly, all these platforms overlooked the intra-consultation phase of oncology care.

“The strength of mobile internet lies in addressing connectivity and efficiency issues. Its integration with oncology care during the diagnosis and treatment phase is a natural fit, as this stage involves high-frequency interactions that far exceed those in the pre-diagnosis and post-treatment phases, making it highly suitable for a mobile application,” analyzed Zhang Zuo.

Zhang Zuo believes: “We cannot blindly copy or benchmark against products from other fields. Oncology has a very unique diagnostic and treatment cycle. For many diseases, diagnosis and treatment are completed within the hospital in a short period, but this is not the case for oncology care.” The entire process, from surgery to the completion of chemotherapy, typically takes about 6–12 months, with care alternating between in-hospital and out-of-hospital settings. Since most doctors are reluctant to provide their personal mobile numbers to patients, communication and feedback between doctors and patients are highly inefficient. Many oncology departments in Grade A tertiary hospitals still rely on whiteboards and paper calendars to manage patients undergoing treatment. Yi Liu Zhu Shou (Onco-Assistant) addresses these pain points from three key aspects.

First, establish a physician collaboration group system to facilitate communication between patients and familiar medical providers. Most patients only trust chief physicians with high reputations, but these experts are too busy to frequently use mobile applications—a challenge that the entire internet healthcare sector needs to address. The innovation of OncoAssist lies in replicating the existing oncology department’s treatment team structure—comprising “chief physician, deputy chief physician, attending physician, resident physician, and head nurse”—onto mobile platforms. This creates a physician collaboration group system led by the team leader, with members taking turns on duty to handle communication and feedback for patients undergoing treatment, thereby achieving a high frequency of daily interactions between physicians and patients within the group.

Next is the patient education multimedia system. A report on doctor-patient relationships published by VCBeat revealed that 50% of patients do not know how to specifically implement their doctors’ recommendations after consultations. Furthermore, 90% of adults stated that they find it difficult to adhere to routine medical advice because the information is often incomprehensible to the general public. In real-world clinical practice, doctors and nurses spend considerable time repeatedly answering questions such as “Why is this treatment necessary?” and “What should I eat after treatment?” This process is highly inefficient, and patients may still fail to remember or understand the information provided. To address this, Yiliu Zhushou (Onco-Assistant), in collaboration with the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO), the China Anti-Cancer Association, and experts across various specialized disease fields nationwide, has standardized and multimedia-enabled common explanations and communication points throughout the medical care process. These resources can be easily viewed and pushed via the Yiliu Zhushou platform, simplifying and visualizing complex issues, thereby improving communication efficiency and treatment adherence.

Third, YiLiu Assistant has also developed numerous efficiency-enhancing tool systems, such as the inpatient appointment system, adverse symptom feedback system, and disease progression tracking system.

The Future of Oncology Assistant

Currently, YiLiu Assistant has approximately 10,000 registered physician users and around 30,000 patient users. In Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, the oncology departments of nearly 100 large Grade A tertiary hospitals have established collaborations with YiLiu Assistant.

According to data published in The Lancet, the average five-year survival rate for cancer patients in the United States is 65.8%, whereas in China it stands at 30.9% (source: National Cancer Control and Prevention Research Office). However, at many large tertiary hospitals in China, the average five-year survival rates for numerous cancers are not significantly different from those in the U.S. Zhang Zuo told VCBeat that the substantial disparity in national-level statistics is primarily attributable to three factors: low awareness of cancer screening leading to late diagnosis; poor treatment adherence among patients, particularly due to limited disease awareness in remote areas; and insufficient nutritional support, nursing care, and therapeutic guidance during and after treatment.



Clearly, there are still many unresolved pain points in the field of oncology care, all of which represent strategic opportunities for OncoAssist. By effectively establishing itself as the entry point during the consultation phase, it can subsequently expand into a broader range of services. In Zhang Zuo’s view, as the healthcare ecosystem becomes more open in the future, mere access to resources will no longer constitute a competitive advantage. “Large platforms such as WeDoctor and Chunyu Doctor can be regarded as online gateways covering all disease areas, but niche specialties require deep vertical integration. The future will undoubtedly involve collaboration between major platforms and numerous specialized vertical players.”

Recently, Zhang Zuo has been focusing on two key initiatives: first, visiting oncologists and patients at major Grade A tertiary hospitals to further optimize existing products; and second, recruiting more internet and healthcare professionals who possess an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for product development.

“Professionals from traditional industries tend to approach product development with a mindset of trying to do everything, covering nearly all aspects of pre-diagnosis, during-diagnosis, and post-diagnosis care. However, as a startup, we lack the resources and manpower to support such an expansive scope. Moreover, launching without prior validation results in a product that lacks distinctive features and fails to deliver value through in-depth services.” Zhang Zuo believes that it is essential to learn from internet product managers, constantly reminding ourselves to first excel in high-frequency scenarios during the diagnosis phase, delve deeply into these areas, refine our solutions, and fully integrate them into existing oncology care settings. Only on this basis, by continuously incorporating internet technologies, can we gradually extend our reach across the entire ecosystem.