China gene sequencing company raises $63m

BioTrack Capital, Huagai Capital and Sunshine Insurance Group’s Riverhead Capital also participated. Existing investors Gaorong Capital, Baidu’s venture unit BV Ventures, state-backed ZGC Co-Innovation Fund, and Yinxinggu Capital re-upped.

Founded in 2016, QitanTech specializes in nanopore genome sequencing devices and their supporting reagents and chips. Nanopore sequencing enables direct analysis of DNA and RNA fragments by monitoring changes in electrical current as nucleic acids pass through a protein nanopore. Unlike traditional DNA sequencing, data is streamed in real-time, rather than in bulk at the end of a sequencing run.

The company plans to start mass production for its first domestic nanopore gene sequencer within the year. This will make it only the second operator globally to enter the commercial application stage with a gene sequencer, according to a statement.

Application scenarios include precision diagnosis of infection, genetic disease, tumor gene mutation detection, and judicial criminal investigation, according to Dan Xie, co-founder of QitanTech.

QitanTech raised RMB100 million in Series A funding led by Gaorong Capital in May 2020 following three earlier rounds, according to AVCJ Research.

These include a RMB40 million investment in 2019 from Zhongguancun Co-Innovative Fund, Yahui Precision Medical Fund, and Baidu Capital. In 2018, Tsinghua Holdings Capital, Qianming Angen Investment and Baidu Capital provided RMB20 million. Tsinghua, Qianming, and Empower Investment backed a RMB3 million angel round in 2017.

Other players in China’s gene testing space include AmCare Genomics Lab and MGI Tech, a subsidiary of BGI Group. BGI is a dominant player in China for the most common genetic tests.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Healthcare
• Technology
• Early-stage
• China
• Hillhouse Capital Management
• CDH Investments Management
• Gaorong Capital
• Baidu