LifeShield Medical Secures Over RMB 100 Million in Series B Funding to Accelerate Commercialization of Therapies for Heart and Lung Failure

Recently, LifeShield Medical (“LifeShield”) announced the successful completion of a financing round exceeding RMB 100 million. The round was co-led by Sherpa Healthcare Partners and Yuanfeng Capital, with existing investor Proxima Venture Partners continuing its investment, and Shanghai Lingang Lanwan Capital participating as a follow-on investor. Reportedly, the proceeds from this round will be used to construct a manufacturing facility for LifeShield’s interventional artificial heart system, accelerate the clinical validation and commercialization of its ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) system, and further advance the clinical validation of China’s first carbon dioxide removal system for the treatment of severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Previously, LifeShield completed a financing round worth hundreds of millions of RMB in January 2022, led by PICC Capital, with Proxima Ventures participating.、Bacchus Capital, Junan Holdings, and Naxin Capital participated in the co-investment. The company secured two rounds of financing within a little over a year, earning favor from renowned domestic and international funds. LifeShield’s core product pipeline is developed using its globally leading blood pump platform technology, focusing on innovative therapies for heart and lung failure. Its product pipeline includes:

As China’s population ages, the prevalence of heart failure continues to rise, with more than 10 million patients affected annually; however, effective clinical treatment options remain limited. Each year in China, 1.3 million patients with coronary artery disease undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), among whom 30% (nearly 400,000) are high-risk cases requiring intraoperative hemodynamic support. Furthermore, approximately 350,000 patients with cardiogenic shock die annually in China due to lack of timely intervention or effective therapies. For high-risk PCI and cardiogenic shock, percutaneous ventricular assist device (pVAD) therapy has been successfully applied in over 250,000 cases abroad, with its safety and efficacy extensively validated. However, this innovative technology and related products have not yet been introduced to China, leaving the domestic market entirely untapped.

LifeShield’s pVAD product targets the golden flow market, which boasts the widest application and largest scale. Through an innovative “non-perfusion” sealing design, LifeShield has achieved independent innovation. Leveraging the team’s extensive R&D experience, LifeShield has optimized the flow field design of the pVAD’s key component—the high-speed impeller—thereby improving the operational efficiency and blood compatibility of the percutaneous ventricular assist device.

Previous animal studies have successfully demonstrated that hemolysis levels are far below clinically relevant thresholds, with no clot or thrombus formation observed at critical components of the infusion pump, and no major clinical complications recorded.

Furthermore, LifeShield has effectively reduced the size of its pVAD devices by optimizing components and the overall product design, enabling their use in both catheterization laboratories and operating rooms, while significantly enhancing clinical operational convenience and safety.

LifeShield’s ECMO oxygenator adopts a domestically pioneering “stacked membrane” design and features an optimized flow field, resulting in a transmembrane pressure drop of only 38 mmHg (at 5 L/min). This design reduces blood cell damage while delivering higher gas and heat exchange efficiency. Additionally, LifeShield effectively reduces the blood pump volume, achieving a lower priming volume, enhancing pump head stability, and improving hemolysis parameters.

Earlier this year, LifeShield’s ECMO system successfully completed its registration animal trials. All test subjects achieved the 16-day clinical endpoint under both V-V and V-A modes, with a 100% survival rate. Currently, LifeShield’s ECMO product is undergoing registrational human clinical trials, demonstrating significant clinical efficacy and receiving high acclaim from the medical community.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death globally and one of the four major chronic diseases in China. Recent epidemiological survey data indicate that there are 100 million COPD patients in China, imposing a substantial disease burden while effective treatment options remain scarce. As COPD progresses, patients experience dyspnea, leading to carbon dioxide retention in the bloodstream. This not only impairs normal ventilatory function but also gives rise to multiple complications. Therefore, a critical component of COPD management is the removal of carbon dioxide from the patient’s blood to protect the lungs from further injury. In recent years, extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO2R), often referred to as an "artificial lung" and originally designed for ECMO systems, has been employed clinically for carbon dioxide clearance. However, these systems lack specificity in aspects such as system design and vascular access pathways, which may lead to complications including thrombosis.

LifeShield believes that developing an ECCO2R system truly designed for COPD patients is crucial. The ECCO2R oxygenator developed by LifeShield features an optimal flow range specifically tailored for the treatment of COPD, effectively eliminating the high concentrations of carbon dioxide retained in the blood of COPD patients, while achieving high levels of both carbon dioxide removal and oxygen delivery.

Dr. Tim Kuafmann, Co-founder of LifeShield, stated: “We are deeply grateful to both new and existing investors for their confidence in the company. This financing round also marks LifeShield’s entry into a new phase of development. Over the past year, through the joint efforts of our Chinese and German teams, we have achieved significant progress across all three core product pipelines. Moving forward, the company will continue to increase its investment in R&D innovation to accelerate the development of new products and solutions, while consistently enhancing product quality and competitiveness.”

LifeShield is a Sino-German multinational medical device company with operations in Suzhou Industrial Park, China, and Aachen, Germany. Its predecessor, Suzhou LungShield Medical, was founded in 2018 as a startup specializing in extracorporeal and intracorporeal life support. Through research and development and technological innovation, the company is committed to providing high-quality products and treatment solutions for patients with cardiovascular diseases and respiratory failure. LifeShield’s innovative technology originates from Aachen, Germany, where Professor Dr. Tim Kaufmann and his mentor, Professor Ulrich Steinseifer, jointly established Enmodes in 2011 to focus on development services for medical equipment and devices. By leveraging the German team’s advanced technology and R&D expertise, while capitalizing on China’s efficiency, rapid execution, and unique cost advantages, LifeShield effectively translates technology into commercial products.

The company has adopted a “full-platform strategy,” focusing on the development of high-efficiency, safe, and cost-effective percutaneous ventricular assist devices (pVAD), extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal (ECCO2R), and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) systems, while building comprehensive solutions centered around these products.

Mr. Chen Zulin, CEO of LifeShield ChinaStatement: Our mission and vision are dedicated to advancing medical technology innovation in the field of life support, saving and sustaining more lives. As LifeShield’s first product, ECMO, is set to enter mass production and commercialization next year, LifeShield will actively seek like-minded commercialization partners to bring domestically produced ECMO products with superior efficacy and lower costs to market, thereby benefiting more patients.

Mr. Xing Cheng, Managing Partner at Sherpa Capital, the lead investor in this roundThe LifeShield team integrates the advanced technologies of its German counterpart with the efficient development and industrialization capabilities of its Chinese team. By fostering interdisciplinary innovation and accumulating multiple foundational technical competencies, LifeShield has demonstrated best-in-class clinical and market potential in the development of various complex medical devices, providing critical support for life-sustaining needs of patients with acute and severe conditions worldwide. Sherpa Healthcare Partners is honored to collaborate with LifeShield and looks forward to these blockbuster products delivering benefits to a broader patient population.

Mr. Sheng Gang, Chairman and General Manager of Yuanfeng CapitalLifeShield has been deeply committed to the field of life support. Under the leadership of Dr. Tim Kaufmann, the team has achieved significant breakthroughs in core blood pump assistance technologies. Through the concerted efforts of Chinese and German teams, these breakthroughs have been expanded into a platform-based layout for life support medical devices. As the policy-oriented investment platform of Suzhou Industrial Park, Yuanfeng Capital leverages equity investment to attract global innovative technologies and teams to settle in the park. We are honored to work alongside the team, supporting LifeShield’s growth into a global leader in extracorporeal life support platforms within the fertile ground of Suzhou Industrial Park’s medical device industry, thereby benefiting more critically ill patients.

Mr. Sun Xiaolu, Partner at Proxima VenturesStatement: Proxima Ventures firmly believes in global collaboration and has been exploring various models to rapidly translate innovative technologies and products from around the world into clinical practice. We place strong emphasis on thoroughly breaking through and fully mastering foundational platforms and key technologies, prioritizing technological innovation and intellectual property rights, meticulously refining product design to align with clinical needs, and ensuring product performance, quality, scalable manufacturing, yield rates, and supply chain security. The LifeShield team has accumulated extensive experience in the research and development, clinical trials, and commercialization of dozens of innovative cardiovascular products. We look forward to the team delivering a portfolio of world-class life support system products to benefit more patients.

Ms. Qu Xia, General Manager of Shanghai Lingang Lanwan CapitalIt stated: The Life Bay Fund continues to closely monitor advancements in cutting-edge technologies within the life support sector. The LifeShield project boasts a world-class R&D team with substantial technical expertise and experience in innovative research and development of life support systems. Furthermore, the team has demonstrated high efficiency and professionalism in product manufacturing implementation and clinical advancement. The LifeShield project exemplifies a strong strategic partnership between China and Germany. We look forward to the early approval of its products, aiming to provide patients with more high-quality treatment options and address current unmet clinical needs.

Sherpa Capital is a specialized fund focused on early-stage healthcare investments. Adhering to an investment philosophy centered on building industry ecosystems, it constructs its portfolio around rigid, unmet medical needs, leveraging deep expertise in the treatment of major diseases and strategically positioning itself across the industry’s vertical depth as well as its upstream and downstream sectors. From 2011 to 2023, spanning five fund vintages and over 160 healthcare projects, Sherpa has had the privilege of partnering with numerous outstanding entrepreneurs, growing together along the journey.

Suzhou Yuanfeng Capital Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Yuanfeng Capital”) was established in March 2020. As a policy-oriented equity investment platform under the Administrative Committee of Suzhou Industrial Park, it manages funds with a total scale of RMB 12 billion, comprising RMB 10 billion for the Industrial Park Industrial Investment Fund and RMB 2 billion for the Industrial Park Angel Fund of Funds. Yuanfeng Capital aims to become an investment and financing platform for high-tech industries in the Industrial Park and an incubator for angel investment institutions, thereby guiding social capital to converge on the three strategic emerging industries: biomedicine, artificial intelligence, and nanotechnology applications.

The Industrial Park’s industrial investment fund supports Suzhou in establishing “landmark industries” and achieving new heights in industrial development by introducing major domestic industrial projects or overseas projects with leading-edge technologies, and by supporting the mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring of advantageous enterprises within the park to become industry leaders.

By collaborating with industry leaders, renowned angel investment firms, research institutes, and incubators to establish angel funds, the Park’s Angel Fund of Funds leverages and guides social capital toward seed-stage and early-stage startups. This initiative facilitates the aggregation of high-quality domestic and international venture capital, projects, technologies, and talent in Suzhou, thereby supporting the development of Suzhou’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Proxima Ventures is dedicated to identifying, investing in, and cultivating exceptional medical technology innovation enterprises with significant growth potential. We manage multiple RMB and USD funds, with offices in Shanghai, Suzhou, Taipei, and the United States. Our team boasts diverse and international expertise, professional backgrounds, and resource networks, complemented by extensive clinical resources and industrialization experience, as well as a proven track record of notable venture capital achievements over many years. Proxima Ventures has been building an ecosystem for medical technology innovation startups to make entrepreneurship easier, faster, and more successful. We support entrepreneurs with grand visions, focusing on long-term value creation. By working side-by-side with them, we help grow their companies into great enterprises with strong competitiveness and sustained innovation capabilities, thereby generating substantial clinical value for society over the long term. In recent years, the Proxima Ventures team has invested in 59 companies, assisted entrepreneurs in founding 17 of these enterprises, and supported 52 first-in-class global products.

Lingang Lanwan Capital is an industrial investment platform under the Lingang Group, dedicated to the healthcare sector. Based in the Life Bay specialized park within the Lingang New Area, the platform extends its reach across China and globally. It is committed to optimizing the healthcare ecosystem, integrating premium resources, and empowering high-quality enterprises for sustainable growth. Its mission is to help establish a pioneering zone for precision medicine with global influence and to build a world-class hub for industrial development.