China mobile healthcare developer gets $50m Series C round
Spring Rain Software, a Chinese mobile healthcare app developer, has raised a $50 million Series C round from new investors China International Capital Corp. (CICC), Rushan Investment Management and Temasek Holdings’ Pavilion Capital.
Existing investor BlueRun Ventures also participated.
Beijing-based Spring Rain was founded in 2011 by Rui Zhang, the former vice chief editor of NetEast. The firm launched its mobile healthcare app - Spring Rain Palm Doctor - soon after. The mobile platform allows users to make health inquiries to professional doctors online.
The app currently has three million registered users, with 40,000 registered doctors on the platform and more than 50,000 health consultations received every day.
The firm plans to use the new funding to expand the app's base of users and doctors. Spring Rain is also seeking monetization through cooperation with hospitals, pharmaceutical manufacturers and drug stores. In addition, it is exploring potential partnerships with wearable device manufacturers, insurance companies and other related industries.
AVCJ Research records show that BlueRun committed $3 million to the company in 2011. Last year, Spring Rain secured a further round of funding led by Bertelsmann Asia Investment.
Online healthcare services are popular among VC investors. In April, Lightspeed China Partners committed $1 million to Kanchufang, an online healthcare information operator. Two months ago, Shanghai International Group Venture Capital (SIGVC) provided a RMB300 million ($48 million) Series A round funding for J1.com, an online drug store launched by China Resources Holdings.
Strategic investors are also moving into the segment. In June, Shenzhen-listed software developer Longmaster Information & Technology bought Chinese healthcare portal 39.net for RMB650 million, facilitating an exit for IDG Capital Partners.
Earlier this year, Yunfeng Capital and Alibaba Group bought a 54.3% stake in pharmaceutical data provider CITIC 21CN, a Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate CITIC Group, for HK$1.33 billion ($171 million).
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