Kangxun360: Disruptive Innovation in Diabetes Management Through Free Glucose Meters

In China’s mobile internet sector, diabetes blood glucose management apps have emerged in large numbers, but Kangxun 360 Blood Glucose Management App (hereinafter referred to as “Kangxun 360 APP”) is the only one that offers free blood glucose meters.

Kangxun 360, which has been on the market for over six months, has accumulated nearly 300,000 users, with user activity remaining at around 12%.

In June this year, Kangxun 360 partnered with Ruijing Diabetes Chain Hospitals to distribute an initial batch of 20,000 smart blood glucose meters and 4 million test strips to diabetic patients. The campaign was launched across 11 hospitals in seven cities nationwide. To date, as part of the collaboration with Ruijing Hospitals, Kangxun 360 has distributed more than 18,000 blood glucose meters.

Why Offer Free Glucose Meters and Test Strips? Wang Le told VCBeat that providing free glucose meters is a form of disruptive innovation aimed at rapidly identifying target users and expanding market share in the highly competitive mobile health sector.

Regarding the collaboration with Ruijing Hospital, Mr. Wang Le from Kangxun 360 candidly stated that the partnership was driven by two main factors: first, Ruijing’s extensive expertise in diabetes care, as a specialized hospital with 18 years of focus on this field and coverage across seven major provinces and municipalities nationwide; second, private hospitals typically have shorter decision-making cycles, enabling faster project implementation, while their patients generally exhibit a relatively higher spending capacity. (For details, see the VCBeat article:)A Diabetes Hospital’s Journey into the Internet）

In fact, as early as December last year, Kangxun 360 began to make strategic moves in diabetes management. It jointly established a Diabetes Center with the Aerospace Center Hospital affiliated to Peking University, and together recruited 20,000 diabetic patients for an "Internet + Healthcare" diabetes management research project.

In March 2015, Kangxun 360 provided diabetes education to SF Express’s 400,000 employees and distributed smart blood glucose meters to 7,000 diabetic patients and their family members through SF’s welfare platform.

In May 2015, Kangxun 360 signed a contract with Huaxia Life Insurance, under which Huaxia Life Insurance purchased 10,000 smart blood glucose meters along with accompanying blood glucose management services. This marked Kangxun 360’s first step toward implementing a B-side paid model in the healthcare sector.

Kangxun 360’s short-term goal is to reach a base of 1 million precisely targeted diabetes patients, collaborate with over 800 diabetes specialists, and partner with more than 100 hospitals within one year.

Engage with the core fan base

Among China's 114 million diabetic patients, approximately 5 million are avid internet users, and this group constitutes the primary target audience for Kangxun 360.

The blood glucose meter bundled with Kangxun 360 holds FDA and CFDA certifications. Compared to other products on the market, Kangxun 360 is an IoT-enabled device that simplifies operation: elderly users only need to use the glucometer for monitoring without interacting with the app, while their children can manage the app to facilitate remote diabetes management.

During the product development process, the Kangxun 360 team established a core fan base of approximately 500 members, comprising the most active and inquiry-prone users from its self-media and online channels. This group of senior users was organized to provide feedback on new product versions, facilitating continuous improvements in user experience.

Kangxun 360 was founded with the initial goal of becoming China’s most authoritative chronic disease management platform, making chronic disease management more scientific. It synchronizes patients’ health data with physicians to create a data-driven doctor-patient interaction platform and demonstrate a data-based precision medicine model.

The first product, Kangxun 360 Glucose Management, adopts a combination of a smart glucometer, cloud platform, and mobile app. The Kangxun 360 smart glucometer is as easy to operate as conventional glucometers and features an IoT module that automatically uploads data to the cloud. This enables a collaborative care model involving physician teams and caregivers, aiming to make glucose management more scientific through monitoring and providing patients with comprehensive disease management plans.

Product Introduction

Kangxun 360’s products integrate smart hardware with a cloud platform, a combination that inherently determines the user experience across several key dimensions.

1. Simple operation. The Kangxun 360 Smart Glucometer operates no differently from conventional glucometers, making it accessible to users of all ages. Equipped with an IoT module, the device automatically uploads data to the cloud wherever there is mobile signal, requiring no additional user intervention. This seamless experience mirrors that of standard glucometers, thereby lowering the barrier to use.

2. Connectivity. Through internet connectivity and real-time monitoring, the cloud-based team promptly receives user data to deliver tailored services. By collaborating with medical institutions, this team ensures more practical solutions that better meet user needs, which constitutes a key advantage of Kangxun 360.

3. Product Philosophy: Care. Kangxun 360 is a home-oriented product that enables children and relatives to promptly understand the patient’s condition through cloud-based data sharing, allowing our medical team to deliver optimal care and attention to patients.

These three features also embody Kangxun 360’s slogan: Simplicity · Connectivity · Love.

Kangxun 360 is set to release version 4.0 in the near future, with Mr. Wang Le revealing that this update will bring significant changes.