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Key trends
In the last week, China’s innovation ecosystem logged 176 successful rounds. Enterprise services was the leading industry yet again, with 44 deals (25%). Of all transactions, 100 deals (57%) were Series B and earlier rounds.
Top Stories: VCs and Investments
This week’s noteworthy investments are related to enterprise services and healthcare. Both industries are in the lead for big ticket deals.
Bizzabo, one of the world’s fastest growing event technology company, closed its Series E round. Olive, which streamlines workplace efficiency for healthcare institutions and boosts effectiveness of patient care, raised USD 226 million in investments.
Going public
Royole
Estimated valuation: USD 8 billion or higher
Plans to file for an IPO in mid-December
Royole seeks to formally submit its prospectus in mid-December. This news came after CITIC Securities completed the listing guidance with Royele on November 25. Royole is expected to raise RMB 12 billion (USD 1.8 billion) on the STAR Market, bringing its valuation to well above USD 8 billion.
Royole was founded in 2012 by Liu Zihong. Nicknamed “genius boy”, he received a PhD in electronic engineering from Stanford University at the tender age of 26. In 2014, Royole was the first in the world to produce the thinnest foldable display that measured only 0.01 mm. In 2018, it secured intellectual property rights for the foldable display and began to roll out a mass production line.
Startups on our watchlist
Healthcare
YZY Biopharma (友芝友): Founded in 2012, Series B
Founded in July 2010, YZY Biopharma is a biopharmaceutical company centered around immunotherapy. It also conducts R&D and mass produces antibodies and drugs. The firm most recently developed YBODY, an antibody that is capable of binding to tumor cell surface proteins at one end and CD3 molecules in T cells at the other end. Binding to CD3 activates T cells and helps the body fight off antigens. Additionally, YBODYcan be adapted for functional requirements in other forms.
Health Gene Technologies (海尔施基因科技): Founded in 2011, Series A
Health Gene Technologies develops simple, rapid, and effective nucleic acid testing solutions for molecular diagnostics, clinical research, and forensic analysis. It has developed in vitro diagnostic kits for many different applications, such as pathogen detection, pharmacogenomics analysis, and human DNA identification.
According to statistics from CB Insights and the China Research Institute, the nucleic acid testing market in China was worth RMB 10.6 billion (USD 1.62 billion) in 2019, representing 18% of the global market. The domestic market has been expanding at an annual growth rate of 18–19% in the past three years—the highest in the world—and is dominated by infectious disease nucleic acid testing, which accounts for 44% of the market share.