Beijing Yitikang: Services Outshine Hardware in Competitive Edge

This year marks the eighth anniversary of the establishment of Beijing Yitikan (hereinafter referred to as “Yitikan”).

Yitijian CEO Zhou Shuo couldn’t help but reflect: “When Yitijian was founded, the concepts of ‘mobile health’ and ‘wearables’ did not yet exist; even the term ‘IoT’ (Internet of Things), now considered outdated, had not yet emerged. At that time, we simply believed that using IT methods to connect all home health devices to the internet was definitely a trend, but we never expected this trend to last for eight years.”

In the field of internet healthcare, Yitijian is among the more established players. The company developed China’s first-generation internet-enabled ECG monitor; after modest market performance, it pivoted and launched a second-generation portable ECG device, which has sold nearly 50,000 units to date. Zhou Po revealed that Yitijian will introduce a new generation of multi-lead ECG monitors this year. Multi-lead ECG monitors can more comprehensively record and reflect the heart’s dynamic activity, moving beyond the limitations of single-lead readings, thereby enabling physicians to accurately assess patients’ conditions and provide targeted treatment plans.

(From left to right: Zhao Junlin, Co-founder and CTO; Kuang Jinghui, Co-founder and Production Director; Zhou Pi, Founder and General Manager)

There are still 400 units of the first-generation electrocardiograph available.Multiple units lying in the warehouse

“We produced 1,000 units of the first-generation ECG monitor, and more than 400 units remain in inventory to this day,” Zhou Po told VCBeat, noting that blind optimism led to the ultimate failure of the first-generation product.

In 2007, when Zhou Po and his team decided to enter the medical device market, they believed they had identified an excellent market entry point. At that time, there were no home-use medical devices in China for disease monitoring in cardiovascular patients, and traditional hospital electrocardiograms (ECGs) could only be interpreted by specialized physicians. Zhou Po believed that home-use medical devices would undoubtedly have substantial market demand.

Thus, Yitijkang developed its first-generation electrocardiogram (ECG) device. The team envisioned connecting the ECG device to a computer for data processing, leveraging the computer’s larger screen and enabling transmission of the data to physicians via the internet. “At that time, this was truly an exciting idea,” said Mr. Zhao Junlin, Co-founder and CTO of Yitijkang, in an interview with VCBeat.



“Failing to conduct market research, neglecting to gain an in-depth understanding of user needs, and blind optimism are the primary challenges entrepreneurs must overcome from the outset.” This is the lesson summarized by Zhou Po. Despite initial setbacks, Yitikang remains convinced that internet-based healthcare is an inevitable trend. In 2010, Yitikang developed its second-generation electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor, namely the HC-201 ECG device included in the currently marketed “Heart Care Kit.” Compared with Yitikang’s first-generation ECG monitor, the core advantage of the second generation lies in the addition of a color display, enabling standalone operation without a computer and accurate recording anytime, anywhere. It is simpler, more convenient, and better aligned with user habits.

Hardware+Service

Yitikang’s research reveals that the fundamental purpose behind users’ purchase of mobile health products lies not in the medical devices themselves, but in the services they enable. For instance, when users buy blood pressure monitors or glucometers, their goal is to effectively monitor and manage their health status and receive targeted, actionable recommendations. What users truly value is the resolution of health issues following monitoring, rather than the mere process of data collection and measurement. Therefore, the key determinant of success for medical products is the effective integration of user-generated monitoring data with professional clinical interpretation by physicians.

In October 2014, Yitijian partnered with the Chunyu Doctor platform to launch an ECG monitor kit. This kit included a portable ECG monitor, a Health Companion gateway, and three months of complimentary VIP service on the Chunyu Doctor platform, officially initiating the exploration of a model that integrates medical hardware with online physician consultations.

The HC-201 portable ECG monitor offers two testing modes: handheld and external lead wire, and is equipped with a color display. In handheld mode, users can complete an ECG test in approximately 20 seconds by simply tapping “Start Test.” The first page displays heart rate and ST-segment monitoring results, while the second page indicates whether the results are normal. If abnormalities are detected, the device will prompt the user to consult a physician.



The monitoring results from the portable ECG device are automatically transmitted to the mini gateway of the Health Companion. The gateway has a built-in GSM module, similar to a mobile phone SIM card (most health connectivity products developed by Yitikang also use similar mobile communication modules), which automatically transmits data to the backend system of Chunyu Doctors, without the need for Bluetooth or an internet connection.

If middle-aged and elderly individuals are unable to operate the Chunyu Doctor mobile app, their children can register for the complimentary membership service included in the package. This allows them to receive detailed monitoring data and electrocardiogram (ECG) results via the Chunyu Doctor backend on their own mobile devices, enabling them to consult with professional doctors on behalf of their parents anytime and anywhere. As a single-lead ECG device, Yitikang recommends that users perform multiple measurements at different body locations to acquire more comprehensive data for better analysis of the user’s condition.



“This model circumvents the barriers that middle-aged and elderly individuals face in operating smartphones by delegating the most complex tasks to their children. It enables children, regardless of how far they are from home, to monitor their parents’ health status, consult physicians in a timely manner, and obtain appropriate health advice or medication guidance, thereby effectively managing their parents’ health. In this way, mobile medical devices are no longer cold medical instruments but embody humanistic care,” Zhou Po told VCBeat.

Yitakang chose Chunyu because the Chunyu Doctor platform integrates tens of thousands of professional physicians, aligning well with the foundational requirements for upstream-downstream collaboration between hardware and services. Users can transmit their test results to doctors, who can then provide corresponding professional rehabilitation or medication recommendations. Zhou Po revealed to VCBeat that the cooperation between Yitakang and Chunyu Doctor will be further expanded and deepened in the next step.

Other ECG device manufacturers have also attempted this business model, which combines hardware with services. For instance, Xijian, which entered the internet-based mobile healthcare sector in 2014, integrated its “Palm ECG” device with Apricot Forest’s medical record mobile application to provide users with professional physician consultations online. Both models effectively integrate hardware, software, and services to benefit users.

“Actually, the business models are quite similar; what matters most is differentiated competition. Our ultimate goal is to enable medical products to deliver more professional services at lower prices and costs,” said Zhou Po.

Service is the Core Competitiveness of Internet Healthcare

Zhou Po believes that the future trend for ECG devices will undoubtedly be toward increasing miniaturization and home use, with product lines becoming longer and more finely segmented. Making existing large, expensive, professional ECG machines (excluding Holter monitors) portable, compact, and suitable for home use is also the future development direction and product plan of Yitikang. In the future mobile internet landscape, “service capability” will be the core competitiveness of mobile healthcare, encompassing not only services for end users but also for health organizations and professional medical institutions.

Yitijian currently offers 13 types of smart health hardware products (covering areas such as ECG, blood pressure, and blood glucose) and three types of gateways for different scenarios, enabling users to upload data in the simplest way possible. In addition to online and offline sales of its hardware products, Yitijian’s primary revenue source is providing tailored technical and operational solutions to health service providers, professional medical institutions, organizations, and individuals. In the future, Yitijian plans to expand into data value-added services.

In most health management service chains, communication between medical devices and remote service devices relies on proprietary technologies specific to each enterprise. For instance, after Company A collects a user’s blood pressure data, it transmits the data to its electronic data record servers via its dedicated communication network. Since Company B employs a different communication network technology, its servers cannot conveniently or efficiently receive the blood pressure data collected by Company A. This fragmentation not only hinders the sharing of health data but also keeps the costs of telemedicine and health management for individuals and families excessively high. Yitikang addresses these challenges by providing technical solutions that facilitate data openness and sharing, promote collaboration and practical implementation of related information, and foster an interconnected ecosystem among health management systems.

Furthermore, many health management organizations lack expertise in information system development, let alone the integration and visualization of hardware protocols. Yitikang’s independently developed Health Interconnection Open Platform can significantly reduce development time by enabling direct access to data trend charts and graphs, and even providing professional analytical results. This approach substantially mitigates technical risks for healthcare service providers, allowing them to focus more on enhancing the quality of their medical and health services.

Currently, Yitijiankang’s series of products and solutions have approximately 100,000 units of equipment in operation across China, basically achieving the company’s overall operational break-even.

According to VCBeat, Yitijkang is currently in negotiations for its Series A financing. The funds raised will primarily be used to refine its products and solutions, as well as to pilot new models of collaborative operations in corporate health management and the medical sector.

Edited by Bu Yan | Written by Wang Yuehan

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