Shukun, a Chinese startup that uses AI to power medical imaging diagnosis, has secured 700 million yuan (about $108 million) in a new funding round from a group of investors led by Goldman Sachs and Primavera Capital Group, the firm announced on Monday.
The new financing, which was closed by the end of July, also saw the participation of Sequoia Capital China, healthcare-focused Marathon Venture Partners, and trading firm Jane Street’s Asia franchise. Other investors include healthcare investment specialist Sage Partners, and China-focused hedge fund WT Asset Management, among others.
Founded in 2017, Shukun leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to develop intelligent medical imaging solutions for the prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases, targeting cardiovascular disease, acute stroke, various cerebrovascular diseases, and more. Its offerings are adopted by over 1,000 hospitals across China.
The startup claims that its AI-based auxiliary diagnosis solutions that target coronary artery disease can help doctors significantly accelerate efficiency and enable a diagnosis duration as fast as two to three minutes, as compared to a conventional process that usually takes around 30 minutes.
Shukun, whose technologies also assist medical professionals in the CT scan-based diagnosis of the COVID-19, will use the fresh capital to finance the R&D of its AI platform that offers a portfolio of auxiliary diagnosis and adjuvant therapy products.
The financing is also expected to help speed up the application and commercialisation of Shukun’s products across hospitals in China.
As its largest funding round to date, the investment followed Shukun’s cumulative fundraising of nearly 1 billion yuan ($154.3 million) in 2020.
The Beijing-based startup had garnered 590 million yuan (about $91 million) in a Sequoia Capital China-led round last December. Prior to that, it had closed a Series B1 round led by BOC International in June, as well as a Series B2 round led by Qiming Venture Partners in August, both at 200 million yuan ($30.9 million).
Its existing shareholders also include China-focused PE Huagai Capital, VC firm 5Y Capital, Chinese state-owned reinsurance firm China Re Group, China Creation Ventures (CCV), and Zhongjin Pucheng Investment.