Chinese cancer therapy startup B.H. Med has closed 500 million yuan ($78.1 million) in a Series C round, while pet product brand CHOWSING has raised nearly 400 million yuan ($62.4 million) in a Series B+ round.
Jack Ma-backed Yunfeng Capital leads $78m round for B.H. Med
Chinese cancer therapy startup B.H. Med has closed 500 million yuan ($78.1 million) in a Series C round of financing led by Alibaba’s Jack Ma-backed private equity (PE) firm Yunfeng Capital.
Other investors include Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings; biomedical venture capital (VC) firm Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV); 3H Health Investment, a China-focused, healthcare-dedicated PE firm; China’s CITIC Private Equity (CPE); and VC firm Qiming Venture Partners.
Existing shareholders Legend Capital, an investment arm of China’s Legend Group; TF Capital, which focuses on early-stage life sciences investments; and GL Ventures, the VC unit of Asia’s PE powerhouse Hillhouse Capital, re-upped in the new round.
Founded in 2016 in eastern China’s Wuxi City, B.H. Med specialises in the development of tumour treating fields (TTF), a cancer therapy that uses electrical fields tuned to specific frequencies to disrupt cell division, inhibiting tumour growth and potentially causing cancer cells to die.
Nasdaq-listed NovoCure is currently the world’s only firm that has commercialised TTF products. The Saint Helier, Jersey-based firm already gained approvals to use its TTF technology for the treatment of GBM (glioblastoma) and MPM (malignant pleural mesothelioma), two of the most difficult to treat cancers.
B.H. Med plans to use the new proceeds for the R&D of products for new indications, acceleration of its existing clinical candidates, and talent recruitment.
The Series C round brought the startup’s total financing to over 800 million yuan ($124.8 million). Prior to the new round, B.H. Med raised a Series B round in November 2020, months after it announced the completion of a Series A round earlier the same year.
Pet product brand CHOWSING raises $62m
Chinese pet product brand CHOWSING has raised nearly 400 million yuan ($62.4 million) in a Series B+ round of financing co-led by Tencent Investment and global investment firm Cathay Capital.
Other investors include Vertex Ventures China, the China team of Temasek-backed Vertex Ventures; Meridian Capital, which mainly invests in the TMT sector; and investment firm Hony Capital.
Established in 2004 in Shanghai, CHOWSING started as a provider of pet supplements until it introduced staple food series in May 2020. The firm claims to have registered over 60% annual sales growth from 2018 to 2020. It expects the revenue for this year to double that of 2020, reaching 1 billion yuan ($156.1 million).
Its nascent pet staple food offerings, which just crossed 50 million yuan ($7.8 million) in revenue for the second half of 2020, could further grow to 400 million yuan ($62.4 million) for the whole year of 2021, the firm said in a statement.
CHOWSING plans to use the new proceeds for supply chain construction, product R&D, and brand building. The capital is expected to help it better develop in China’s pet market, which is projected to grow to 445.6 billion yuan ($69.6 billion) in 2023 from an estimated 300 billion yuan ($46.8 million) in 2020, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.2%, according to Chinese market researcher iResearch Consulting Group.
The new investment came less than six months after it had secured almost 200 million yuan ($31.2 million) in a Series B round led by China-focused PE The Cathay Funds.