QitanTech, a developer of genome sequencing technology, announced on Tuesday that it has pocketed over 400 million yuan ($63 million) in a Series B round.
The investment was co-led by Hillhouse Capital’s venture unit GL Ventures and CDH Venture and Growth Capital (VGC), a sub-fund of Chinese alternative asset manager CDH Investments, which invests in consumer, healthcare, and AI.
The funding round saw participation from healthcare-focused investment firm BioTrack Capital, Huagai Capital, and Sunshine Insurance Group’s Riverhead Capital.
A slew of existing investors made follow-on investments, including Chinese search engine giant Baidu’s venture unit BV Ventures, early-stage life sciences-focused Alwin Capital, state-backed ZGC Co-Innovation Fund, Yinxinggu Capital, and Gaorong Capital, QitanTech said in a statement.
With the fresh proceeds, QitanTech will continue to bankroll technology R&D and expedite commercialisation, as well as launch a new product this year.
Since its inception in 2016, QitanTech has been engaged in leveraging new generation nanopore gene sequencing technology to develop low-cost, yet high-performing gene sequencing equipment.
QitanTech’s founder Jingwei Bai owns a 29.8% stake, followed by Gaorong Capital owning 10% equity interest. Its majority shareholders include Alwin Capital (5.8%), ZGC Co-Innovation Fund (5.1%), and Baidu (2.9%).
QitanTech had garnered over 100 million yuan ($16 million) in a Series A round from Gaorong Capital, Yinxinggu Capital, Alwin Capital, and ZGC Co-Innovation Fund in May last year.
Prior to that, Alwin Capital, and ZGC Co-Innovation Fund had joined hands pumping capital for QitanTech’s strategic investment in 2019 and pre-A round in 2018. In 2017, BV Ventures had participated in its angel round.
The lead investor GL Ventures was active in healthcare last month, which has jointly led investments in medical equipment provider Jenscare Scientific, biopharmaceutical firm Hangzhou DAC Biotech and Access Medical Systems, the parent company of Matrix Partners China-backed ET Healthcare.