Listed Pharma Companies Flock to Fund Subscriptions, Queuing Up to Hand Money to AI and Semiconductors

A wave of listed healthcare companies is spending hundreds of millions of yuan to buy the "entry ticket" to take stakes in AI and semiconductor companies.

After Andon Health proved out its "core healthcare business + tech investment" dual-engine model, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has found that listed healthcare companies including Yuwell Medical, EasyDiagnosis, INTCO Medical, Yifan Pharmaceutical and Amoytop Biotech have collectively subscribed to funds targeting AI and semiconductors.

Several well-known funds that recently closed fundraising count listed healthcare companies among their backers, such as the Gaorong Changying Fund and Monolith's new fund. Healthcare companies are seeking to become shareholders in AI and semiconductor companies and to share in cross-sector gains.

Listed healthcare companies' attention to AI and semiconductor investment opportunities is not an isolated case. A frontline healthcare investor told VCBeat that more listed healthcare companies have recently subscribed to funds that treat AI and semiconductors as financial investment directions, seeking cross-sector gains, while becoming more cautious about making healthcare investments.

Why are listed healthcare companies collectively becoming LPs in funds for emerging industries such as AI and semiconductors? Is now the best time to start investing in emerging tracks such as AI, semiconductors and commercial space?

In healthcare companies' investment in emerging industries such as AI and semiconductors, Andon Health set a good example for its peers.

Thanks to its early positioning in tech investment, Andon Health caught this AI wave: star projects such as Moonshot AI, MetaX, StepFun and Striding AI entered its portfolio. The revaluation of tech assets also showed up directly on the income statement, with the company's net profit up 204.29% to 269.50% year-on-year in the first half of 2026.

For many listed healthcare companies, the Andon Health case shows that tech investment can become a second growth curve.

Spurred by that demonstration effect, listed companies that once favored healthcare-vertical GPs have begun extending their reach into emerging tech industries.

Yuwell Medical is a representative of this shift in investment preference. This LP, which previously dug deep into the healthcare track, has recently made two consecutive moves to subscribe to tech fund shares: first, Yuyue Hong Kong contributed HKD 94.9 million to subscribe to Class A1 shares of CFTC Paragon SP and CFTC Paramount SP under CFTC Summit Fund SPC, investing in global projects from the PE stage to IPO, covering artificial intelligence, semiconductor chips and integrated circuits.

Within a month, Yuyue further announced that it planned to subscribe to shares of the Jiaxing Juyuan Yaohui Equity Investment Partnership (LP) for no more than RMB 500 million, with China Fortune-Tech Capital as the fund manager. Although the announced investment direction of this subscription is "medical devices and related technology," the true character of this fund deserves a closer reading. China Fortune-Tech Capital was jointly founded by SMIC and a seasoned investment team, manages more than RMB 33 billion in assets, and invests across the entire integrated circuit supply chain.

Backed by China's chip leader, Yuyue's subscription is clearly aimed not just at medical device investment but at the semiconductor industry. Chips are already core components in many of Yuyue's home medical devices. Placing a bet on semiconductors adds a layer of insurance for supply-chain security and also lays early groundwork for a "hardware + software" health management ecosystem.

INTCO Medical has taken another path: buying a ticket with ample cash flow. According to Frost & Sullivan data, INTCO Medical has ranked first globally in disposable glove sales for four consecutive years since 2022. After a pandemic-era earnings surge, the company has long been used to acting as an LP with idle funds, having invested in institutions including Yunqi Partners, Vision Knight Capital, Qianhai FoF, LYFE Capital, Ronseal Investment Management, Broad Vision Industrial Capital and Guoyue Junan Capital, mainly in healthcare.

The change came after the AI narrative heated up: actual controller Liu Fangyi believes the AI technology revolution will further widen the wealth gap. So INTCO Medical and Intco Recycling, both controlled by Liu Fangyi, have successively sided with "new tech" by acting as LPs.

Some companies have bet heavily on AI funds as a family. Amoytop Biotech, whose core product is long-acting interferon, used RMB 100 million of its own funds in 2026 to subscribe to shares of Monolith Xingshen. The trigger for the company's interest in AI funds may be tied to a "second-generation" successor: Amoytop disclosed that Lan Bailin, son of actual controller Yang Ying, also contributed RMB 200 million of his own funds to become a limited partner in Monolith Xingshen, and has bet deeply on Monolith Venture. A young "second generation's" tech perspective may be one reason Amoytop is investing in AI.

Other companies look for an outlet through investment when their core business comes under pressure. Yifan Pharmaceutical's RMB 100 million commitment as an LP in Gaorong Capital coincided with a shift in the company's growth: net profit attributable to shareholders fell by about one-third year-on-year in the first half of 2026. For such companies, putting part of their idle funds into emerging tech funds offers the prospect of sizable financial returns.

It is not hard to see that in choosing GPs, domestic listed healthcare companies prefer top-tier funds. Cross-sector investment means healthcare companies lose the advantage of judging projects with industry knowledge, so they place almost all their trust in the GP. As a result, they still value industry resources, brand and exit track record when selecting GPs.

Looking ahead, a group of listed healthcare companies may become shareholders behind domestic AI and semiconductor companies: they may share in the growth dividends of two highly buoyant tracks and may also use this to push China's healthcare industry chain toward greater intelligence.

The combination of AI and the healthcare industry still offers plenty of room for imagination, which is the core rationale some listed healthcare companies see in contributing to AI and semiconductor funds.

Among them, Yuwell Medical, the most generous spender, has listed AI as a key product R&D direction in metabolic management and respiratory therapy. Yuyue revealed that it is concentrating R&D resources in two directions: first, building its continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) application into an AI intelligence platform in metabolic management; second, launching a fourth-generation smart ventilator equipped with an AI agent.

In recent years, Yuyue has rolled out a number of "AI + healthcare" innovations, including the R3 health ring wearable medical device, the Pocket series of portable ventilators, the new-generation smart AED (automated external defibrillator) HeartSave HP portable series and the myPAD series, steadily building a "hardware + software" health management ecosystem.

It is fair to say that AI has become a key lever for Yuyue to upgrade its product competitiveness; taking stakes in a group of top AI companies through fund subscriptions is also expected to bring more industrial synergies and cooperation opportunities, feeding back into product iteration and real-world deployment.

INTCO Medical, whose core business is consumables such as gloves, also attaches importance to AI applications. An employee revealed that Chairman Liu Fangyi repeatedly stresses the importance of AI technology, whether at large conferences or small seminars. INTCO Medical has now applied AI in multiple business scenarios including smart quality inspection, logistics and supply chain, marketing and customer service, moving these operations from "manual-led" to "intelligence-driven."

It can thus be seen that listed healthcare companies' moves into AI and semiconductors are no longer just about "chasing the hot theme" at the financial level, but about using capital to buy a technology gateway and using AI to rebuild R&D, production, quality control and service chains. By subscribing to funds, listed healthcare companies have a chance to apply external technology to improve product competitiveness and operating efficiency, and to seize the initiative in the transformation toward smart healthcare.

As hard tech such as AI and semiconductors becomes a popular direction for listed healthcare companies' cross-sector expansion, VCBeat interviews found that some listed healthcare companies are choosing to return within their circle of competence: not chasing concepts, but screening only for investment and M&A opportunities that are synergistic with the core business and can contribute to profit.

Most listed healthcare companies still place their chips on the healthcare track. Jointown Pharmaceutical Group, Pientzehuang, Tigermed and Chunli Medical have all contributed to funds in recent years, still focused on innovative drugs, medical devices and healthcare-related technology.

But investing in emerging tech industries does not mean guaranteed profits, and Andon Health's success is hard to replicate. An industry insider cautioned that tech assets such as AI and semiconductors are already highly valued: "Tech valuations are similar to those of innovative drugs in 2020–2021 and are approaching a cyclical peak; some multi-strategy funds have even begun to reduce their tech positions. So ramping up tech investment at this moment may not be the best window to repeat an Andon Health-style success."

There is no standard answer in investing. For listed healthcare companies, whether they cross sectors or stay focused, what is truly worth pursuing are opportunities they can understand, manage and exit from, and that ultimately enhance the value of the core business and shareholder returns.

References:

Burning Cash to Buy Capability, as Veteran Employees' Experience Expires! Frontline Agent Vendors and Users Speak from Experience: Abandoning Technology-Driven Approaches — How Do Huge Investments Avoid Going Down the Drain? — AI Frontline

Yuwell Medical Investor Exchange Meeting