Adidas Acquires Runtastic for $240 Million; Yu Gang Resumes Leadership at 111 Inc. as CEO Chen Hua Departs
[Today's Highlights]
○ Adidas Acquires Fitness App Company Runtastic for $240 Million
○Care at Hand Raises $560,000 to Provide Health Analytics
○ Meng Qun, National Health and Family Planning Commission: Healthcare Must Rely on the Internet
○ Yu Gang Resumes Control of 111.com as CEO Chen Hua Departs
1. Adidas Acquires Fitness App Company Runtastic for $240 Million
According to Runtastic’s official blog post, the German sports company Adidas acquired Austrian fitness app developer Runtastic for €240 million.
“We are highly aligned with our new partner and believe that our business will reach a new level. We will also be able to serve our community members in better and smarter ways,” wrote Florian Gschwandtner, CEO of Runtastic. “Runtastic has extensive experience in applications and digital technologies. The adidas Group is the world’s most successful and comprehensive sports company and is a partner we trust. When it comes to health and fitness products, there is nothing we cannot achieve. Both companies firmly believe that we can offer a unique product portfolio and an unparalleled customer experience to our existing community members and future users.”
Furthermore, Runtastic will continue to exist as a brand and an independent business unit in Linz, Austria, Vienna, and San Francisco. He also promised to launch a new application by the end of this year.
Runtastic, founded in 2009, was one of the earliest developers of fitness applications. In recent years, the company has begun investing in fitness equipment, aiming to become a leading equipment developer in the European market.
2. Care at Hand Raises $560,000 to Provide Health Analytics
Boston-based healthcare analytics company Care at Hand has raised $560,000, led by strategic investor PCG Public Partnerships. PCG is a company that provides financial management services to national, state, and local public agencies. The company implements a participant-directed service model, allowing individuals to make personalized choices within their budgets regarding which services to receive.
Care at Hand provides a mobile early warning system for home care, designed to reduce readmission rates and help home care workers without formal training records to more easily document health information.
Earlier this year, Dr. Andrey Ostrovsky, the company’s founder, stated that much of the care currently provided to low-income patients is delivered not by physicians and nurses, but by non-clinical staff. However, with alerts from the healthcare system to these caregivers, complications can be identified earlier, thereby preventing hospital readmissions.
3. Meng Qun of the National Health and Family Planning Commission: Healthcare Must Rely on the Internet
On August 6, at the “2015 China Health Information Technology Exchange Conference and Cross-Strait Four Regions eHealth Forum,” Meng Qun, Vice President of the Chinese Health Information Association and Director of the Statistics and Information Center of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, elaborated on how to foster innovative development in China’s healthcare informatization during the 13th Five-Year Plan period.
Meng Qun pointed out that in the era of “Internet Plus,” healthcare must rely on the internet. “Internet Plus Healthcare” comprises four basic elements: it is built upon the internet; leverages information technology and the pillars of cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things, and mobile technologies as its means and support; deeply integrates with traditional medical services; and gives rise to new formats of healthcare services.
During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, reliance on regional health platforms should be strengthened to enhance the construction of medical and healthcare information platforms. The development of regional centers for laboratory medicine, medical imaging, and pathology is a key priority for future construction; together with multi-site practice by physicians, these are important measures to promote the vertical flow of high-quality medical resources. In addition, the construction of hospital integration platforms centered on electronic medical records (EMR) should be advanced.
4. Yu Gang Retakes Control of 111.com, CEO Chen Hua Departs
Yesterday morning, Chen Hua’s resignation letter as CEO of 1Drug.com went viral on WeChat Moments, marking his official departure from the company. 1Drug.com will be taken over by Yu Gang, former Chairman of Yihaodian, and Liu Junling, its former CEO. Yu Gang is the founder and chairman of 1Drug.com. It is reported that Chen Hua has secured a position at a major internet company and will continue to work in the pharmaceutical e-commerce sector.
In his resignation letter, Chen Hua expressed gratitude to his colleagues, investors, vendors, and media friends, as well as to this great era. He wrote, “Witnessing firsthand how the internet and e-commerce have transformed the work and lifestyles of people across all sectors of Chinese society with astonishing speed, my deepest sentiment is that I was born at the right time!”
In 2014, Yihaodian.com spun off its online pharmacy business to establish 111.com (Yiyao Wang), with Chen Hua serving as CEO. In early 2015, 111.com secured RMB 450 million in financing, generating significant industry buzz. The platform experienced rapid growth; according to July sales data from Tmall’s Pharmacy Channel, the Flagship Store of No. 1 Grand Pharmacy ranked fifth in overall sales with nearly RMB 12 million in revenue, and third in over-the-counter (OTC) medication sales.