China's Miaoshou Doctor raises $72.8m
China-based healthcare care services provider Miaoshou Doctor has raised RMB500 million ($72.8 million) in an extended Series C round of funding led by Starquest Capital, with participation from Sequoia Capital China.
The fresh funding will be used to upgrade the company’s existing services including online hospital and patient management systems, according to a statement.
Founded in 2015, Miaoshou operates an online platform that connects doctors and patients. Doctors can provide healthcare consultations and manage patients’ health records through the app. In addition, Miaoshou runs self-owned pharmacies in 63 cities, offering prescriptions and healthcare advice to patients. The company has also established a healthcare services network with third-party drug manufacturers and specialist hospitals.
“As a newly established investment firm dedicated to investing in new economy companies, we believe Miaoshou Doctor’s business model is in line with the Chinese government’s push to develop online healthcare services. Because of its scale and established platforms, we trust it to become the leading player in this space,” said Tuo Zheng, CEO of Starquest.
Starquest was founded in 2017 and primarily seeks late-stage private equity investment opportunities in the technology space. It is backed by the China state-owned Venture Capital Fund (CVCF) and Sequoia Capital China. The firm had reportedly raised around RMB10 billion from domestic investors, including banks, as of last year.
Prior to this round, Miaoshou received an undisclosed sum from Tencent Holdings and Sequoia in 2015. Last year, the two investors put in a further $79.53 million. They were joined in the round by Kunling Capital and Qiming Venture Partners, according to AVCJ Research.
China’s online healthcare services segment has attracted considerable PE and VC attention in recent years, with growth expected to be driven by an aging population and rising expenditure on healthcare services. Spending is set to reach $896.7 billion in 2019, according to Deloitte.
Ping An Healthcare & Technology, which runs mobile app Ping An Good Doctor, raised $500 million in funding in 2016 and then went public in Hong Kong last year. WeDoctor, a similar platform backed by Tencent Holdings, closed a $500 million round at a valuation of $5.5 billion in May 2018, while B2B pharmaceutical trading and education platform Yaoshibang received $133 million in Series D funding last December.
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