ABC Impact backs China autism therapy business

Grand Flight Investment – a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed leasing business Far East Horizon – came into the round as a new investor. DMXM has previously received funding from the likes of OrbiMed and YuanBio Venture Capital, a statement said.

According to AVCJ Research’s records, Fortune Venture Capital led a CNY 40m (USD 6.3m) Series A for the company in 2018. Suzhou Industrial Park Bioventure Investment took the lead in a Series B of CNY 100m the following year and then re-upped in a round of undisclosed size in 2020. That round also featured OrbiMed, Boyu Capital, and Aqua Ventures.

DMXM is among the largest providers of early intervention services for ASD in China, operating out of 30 locations in 14 tier-one and tier-two cities. It employs nearly 100 accredited therapists who offer in-person behavioural therapy for children with ASD aged 3-12, as well as offline and online training for parents and caregivers, so they can manage their children’s special needs at home.

The new capital will support geographic expansion within China and the introduction of new services, such as one-to-many classes, and an enlarged online syllabus.

At present, most of DMXM’s services are intensive, on-site one-to-one therapy sessions based on applied behaviour analysis, the most widely accepted and practised theory for ASD intervention. There is an emphasis on helping children develop social skills with a view to improving their condition and increase their chances of re-integration into mainstream schools.

About 10m people in China are estimated to be affected by ASD, with about 200,000 children diagnosed every year. However, ASD is often neglected or misdiagnosed. Research commissioned by ABC Impact found that the diagnosis rate in tier-one cities is about 31%, falling to 3% in tier-four cities. Roughly half of children with ASD in China do not attend school.

Yingshuang Jiang, DMXM’s founder and CEO, said he established the business to improve ASD therapy and rehabilitation in China. Instead of relying solely on imported therapy systems and techniques, we have adopted a research-backed and localised approach to develop proprietary intervention techniques that are well-suited to the children we serve,” he explained.

ABC Impact – formerly known as ABC World Asia – was established in 2019 to make impact investments, primarily in developing Asia, that meet the UN’s sustainable development goals. DMXM, for example, supports the goal of promoting better wellbeing for all and ensuring inclusive and equitable early childhood care.

This is ABC Impact’s second investment in China, following a commitment to Chongho Bridge, which provides services to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in rural areas. It has also backed the likes of Vietnam dental clinic chain Kim Dental and India-based livestreamed teaching app Vedantu.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Expansion
• Healthcare
• Greater China
• China
• Singapore
• Temasek Holdings
• Impact investment
• OrbiMed