Leao Summit Biotech Secures Tens of Millions RMB in Pre-A Financing to Advance Integrated Laboratory Automation Solutions

VCBeat learned at the earliest opportunity that,Beijing Leo Summit Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Leo Summit”)Recently announced the completion of a Pre-A financing round amounting to tens of millions of RMB. This round was led by Sinopharm Capital, with continued support from existing shareholder Huagai Capital. This marks the company’s second fundraising effort following last year’s angel round, which was co-led by Huagai Capital and Kangqiao Capital. The funds raised will be primarily used for the industrial commercialization of intelligent nanoliter pipetting workstations and the delivery of system integration solutions.

Leo Summit, established in 2022, is a company dedicated to advancing the research, development, and manufacturing of “intelligent” life science tools. The company’s founder, Dr. Wang Lei, possesses an interdisciplinary background in biology and engineering, with nearly a decade of experience in commercializing automation solutions for multinational corporations within an international context, and over five years of experience leading scientific research teams in national-level laboratories. He has accumulated more than 20 years of expertise in life sciences, pharmaceutical research, and the research, development, and commercialization of automation systems. During his tenure at Agilent Technologies, Dr. Wang Lei spearheaded the launch and development of the first batch of automated laboratories in China.

Currently, automation tools on the market fall into two categories. The first category comprises standardized standalone products, such as automated liquid handling workstations. Typical global representatives in this segment include the Swiss companies Tecan and Hamilton, as well as the U.S.-based Beckman Coulter, PerkinElmer, and Agilent. The second category involves automated system integration, with all five aforementioned companies offering similar solutions.

Leo Summit atIn the Design of Automated Product FormsWith its innovative approach, it integrates nanoliter-scale precision and artificial intelligence into liquid handling workstations and automated system integration solutions, gradually endowing the equipment with “human-like” intelligence to help customers build smart laboratories. These instruments and smart laboratories will play a disruptive role in numerous fields, including drug discovery, synthetic biology, molecular breeding, disease prevention and control, environmental health, and medical diagnostics, fostering new industrial business models. By strengthening the upstream sector of life science tools, they empower the development of the biotechnology industry.

The founding team of Leo Summit comprises multidisciplinary talents from Fortune 500 companies and world-renowned universities, with expertise in biology, medicine, artificial intelligence, robotics, computational science, and instrument science and technology. In 2023, the team achieved notable success, securing first place in the Angel Group of the Healthcare Track at the 8th Tsinghua Alumni “San Chuang” Competition, and winning the First Prize in the Manufacturing Project Category at the Changping District Preliminaries of the 6th “Entrepreneurship Beijing” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, also known as the 6th “Changju Cup” “Entrepreneurship Changping” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.

Beijing Leo Summit Biotechnology Co., Ltd. leverages its “intelligent” automated workstations and system integration solutions, which feature core technologies and specialized applications, combined with its biological process development capabilities, to enter the life sciences and medical application markets. This approach addresses the current lack of domestic system integration brands in the bioscience automation market that possess robust capabilities for biological process development.

Dr. Wang Lei, Founder of Leo SummitIt demonstrates that transformations across many industries often originate upstream in the industrial chain. For instance, without the internet and its underlying technologies, there would be no internet era, nor would there be tech giants such as BAT, Amazon, Google, and Facebook. Similarly, the advent of the mobile internet era was driven by revolutionary leaps in upstream communication technologies—from 2G to 4G and 5G—without which mobile internet enterprises like Didi, Meituan, and ByteDance would not have emerged. Beijing Leo Summit Biotechnology Co., Ltd. operates at the upstream end of the life sciences industry chain, developing disruptive life science tools. By closely integrating centuries of accumulated knowledge in life sciences with intelligent technologies, we are creating automated tools that fundamentally reshape the core logic of the upstream life sciences sector. This approach yields innovative product forms never before seen in human history, significantly bolstering humanity’s fight against disease, saving lives, and allowing life to flourish with its full vitality.

For this round of financing,Jianyi CapitalIt was stated: “Investment in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors has experienced significant volatility over the past few years. Following thorough analysis and adjustments, we have adhered to three core principles in selecting niche sub-sectors: minimal susceptibility to macro-level healthcare policies, clear application scenarios with substantial market potential, and the ability to reduce costs and enhance efficiency across the industry chain. We have observed that life science tools are relatively less affected by changes in macro healthcare policies. Within this domain, laboratory automation and associated liquid handling workstations present broad market opportunities. After extensive research and evaluation of this sector, we decided to partner with the Leo Summit team. We believe Leo Summit’s product pipeline and business logic are highly competitive, and the team has demonstrated strong execution capabilities. We look forward to Leo Summit’s continued high-quality, rapid development and to achieving greater prospects together with our investors.”

Huagai CapitalStatement: Leo Summit is a portfolio company in which Huagai Capital’s early-stage fund has continued to increase its investment. Laboratory automation in the life sciences is a clear trend, yet talent and teams with interdisciplinary expertise in both automation and life sciences remain extremely scarce. Having supported the company since its angel round, Huagai Capital has been deeply impressed by the Leo Summit team’s execution capabilities. Moreover, the founder possesses one of the earliest backgrounds in laboratory automation in China and understands how to meet the core needs of the pharmaceutical industry. Leo Summit’s team and technology have filled the domestic gap in nanoliter-level liquid handling. The company is poised to become a leader in the field of laboratory automation, providing comprehensive automation solutions for the life sciences and facilitating further industrial upgrading of China’s pharmaceutical industry.

Sinopharm Capital Management Limited Company (formerly Sinopharm Capital) was established in 2012 by the former senior management team of Sinopharm Group under market-oriented mechanisms. It combines the strategic investment advantages of a Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) with the market-driven strengths of an independent Venture Capital (VC) fund, focusing on early-stage and growth-stage equity investments in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. Leveraging its industrial resources to empower portfolio companies, Jianyi Capital has managed funds exceeding RMB 6.5 billion since its inception. Its investment portfolio comprehensively covers early-stage innovative ventures, growth-stage companies, and merger and acquisition integration projects, with investments in more than 80 leading enterprises in the pharmaceutical and healthcare fields. Adhering to the philosophy of “Sincerity, Professionalism, and Win-Win Cooperation,” Jianyi Capital is committed to accompanying its portfolio companies in their shared growth.

Huagai Capital, established in 2012, is a private equity investment firm co-founded by professionals from renowned domestic and international investment institutions. With the vision of “becoming the most trusted capital partner for entrepreneurs and investors,” the company focuses on private equity investments in the healthcare and technology sectors, committed to fostering the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises into industry leaders. Currently, the firm manages approximately RMB 20 billion in assets, with 26 portfolio companies having gone public.