China's Miaoshou Doctor raises $85m
Miaoshou Doctor, a Chinese online healthcare services platform, has raised RMB600 million ($85 million) in the first tranche of Series D funding round backed by the likes of Qiming Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital China, Ince Capital Partners, CITIC Securities, and Index Capital.
The company achieved unicorn status with a post-deal valuation of more than RMB7 billion after an extended Series C round in June 2019. That followed an RMB500 million investment in January of the same year led by Starquest Capital. Miaoshou received initial funding from Tencent Holdings and Sequoia in 2015, the year it was founded. They re-upped in 2018, contributing RMB500 million alongside Kunling Capital and Qiming Venture Partners.
Miaoshou has three core business lines - healthcare, pharmacy services, and insurance. It has an online hospital that connects patients and doctors, facilitating online consultations. The platform also handles offline appointment bookings, prescription issuance, and medical record management. This is complemented by an online pharmacy marketplace and an offline pharmacy network.
The company's integrated operation allows doctors, hospitals, and local governments to trace the treatment process from prescription issuance to drug purchases. Miaoshou has also added insurance coverage to its product offering through the establishment of a dedicated insurance unit.
Ping An Healthcare & Technology, which runs mobile app Ping An Good Doctor, and Tencent-backed WeDoctor are the dominant forces among platforms that facilitate communication between doctors and patients. The former went public in May 2018, while the latter closed a $500 million round at a valuation of $5.5 billion in 2018. Other operators in this space include Trusted Doctors - another Tencent investee - and Weimai.
Digital healthcare has seen an uptick in popularity since the outbreak of the COVID-19. Ping An Good Doctor reported a tenfold increase in average daily new registered users between January 22 and February 6 compared to the first 21 days of January. Over the same period, daily online consultations increased ninefold.
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