Deal Activities
IPOs
· Asieris Pharmaceuticals (SHSE: 688176), specializing in the treatment of genitourinary tumors, listed on the STAR Market on January 7, 2022. This marks the first public listing of Qiming portfolio company in 2022 and the fourteenth within the past 12 months.
· CANbridge Pharmaceuticals (SEHK: 1228), a leading China-based global rare disease-focused biopharmaceutical company, listed on the main board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange on December 10, 2021. Qiming Venture Partners led the company’s Series A round in 2014 and followed on in the Series B round.
· Aohua Endoscopy (SHSE: 688212), a well-known medical endoscope manufacturer, completed IPO on the STAR Market on November 15, 2021. Qiming Venture Partners led Aohua’s Series C round in 2016 and followed on in Series D.
TMT
· YESMRO.cn, an e-commerce platform for industrial products, completed its C-round of financing worth several million yuan. Qiming Venture Partners participated in this round and led the company’s Series B round in 2020.
· DP Technology, a micro-scale industrial design platform developer, completed a Series B round, co-led by Qiming Venture Partners. The funds raised will be used to attract top talent.
· GenLight Medical completed a Series B financing round led by Qiming Venture Partners. The proceeds will be used to further expand its R&D pipeline, clinical trials, and team expansion. Founded in 2020, GenLight is a developer of laser medical equipment and technologies for treatment of neurological disorders.
· Artificial Intelligence chipmaker Axera completed a Series A++ financing round, totaling CNY 800 million; Qiming Venture Partners participated in the round. The proceeds will be used for business expansion and talent acquisition.
· Eigencomm, one of the leading cellular mobile communication chip designers in the world, completed its C Round of financing worth CNY 1 billion. Qiming Venture Partners, an existing shareholder, also participated in this round. The funds are marked for the research and development and innovation of global 5G communication chips.
· MKSEMI, the leading low power ultra-wideband company, announced the closing of a Series Pre-A+ funding totaling $12.8 million, with participation by Qiming Venture Partners. The proceeds will be used for product development, market expansion and talent acquisition.
· Tungee, a leading intelligent sales solution provider, completed a CNY 300 million Series B+ round of financing, followed by Qiming Venture Partners. Qiming previously led the company’s Series A funding and followed on in the Series B round.
· Sunyur, a digital procurement solution provider, closed a Series B+ round of CNY 150 million, followed by Qiming Venture Partners. The funding will further enhance the company’s digital product capability and increase its R&D investment.
· Chinese data infrastructure technology provider XSKY raised $400 million in its Series F round. Qiming Venture Partners has invested in XSKY for four consecutive funding rounds.
· Cool Vision, whose core product is the enterprise training software Cool College, completed a Series B round; Qiming Venture Partners participated in the round. The company has completed five financing rounds so far and has become one of the fastest-growing companies in the sector.
· Chinese LiDAR maker Hesai Technology received a $70 million investment increment. The fundings will be put into the mass-production and delivery of Hesai’s Hybrid Solid-State LiDAR, the construction of its new Hesai Maxwell intelligent manufacturing center and R&D of auto-grade high-performance LiDAR chips.
Healthcare
· Chinese CDMO ZhenGe Biotech, which focuses on large molecules, closed a $100 million Series C financing round, followed by Qiming Venture Partners. The proceeds will be used to strengthen the company’s global R&D capabilities and expand its manufacturing capacity.
· XmellSmart, an innovative company dedicated in stem cell treatment solutions, secured a Pre-A+ financing round of nearly CNY 100 million, followed by Qiming Venture Partners. The proceeds will be used to improve the company’s key technology platform, as well as accelerate the development of R&D pipelines and the construction of its manufacturing base.
· Cure Genetics closed a $60 million Series B financing round, participated by Qiming Venture Partners. The funds raised will be used to advance the clinical development of its cell therapy candidates for hematological and solid tumors.
· Abogen Biosciences secured a $300 million series C+ funding. The proceeds will be used to accelerate the clinical development of its mRNA vaccine candidate against COVID-19, to rapidly advance multiple drug product candidates into clinical evaluation and to expedite the transformation of its next-gen mRNA platform.
· Allorion Therapeutics completed a $40M Series A financing round led by Qiming Venture Partners. The proceeds will be used to support Allorion's preclinical projects, IND-enabling studies and IND applications of two drug candidates in China and the United States. Allorion Therapeutics is a company focusing on next-generation precision medicine for oncology and autoimmune disease.
· Surgical robotics developer Cornerstone Robotics completed CNY 500 million Series B financing round participated by Qiming Venture Partners. The proceeds will be used for product R&D, clinical trials, marketing promotion, new product layout and the construction of cutting-edge technology platforms of surgical robotics.
· Tripod Preclinical Research Laboratories, a China-based contract research organization (CRO), has raised CNY 1 billion in a recent funding round; Qiming Venture Partners participated in the round.
Portfolio Milestones and Recognitions
TMT
· Hesai Technology has been recognized by Business Insider as one of the 55 tech startups across the globe to bet your careers on in 2022. This is the eleventh consecutive year that Business Insider has released the list.
· TigerGraph and AI Singapore (AISG) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence industry enablement activities through AISG’s programmes in Singapore.
· WeRide.ai announced a strategic cooperation with GAC Group and its subsidiary mobility service platform OnTime. The trio aims to develop a fleet of driverless robotaxis for future operation and commercialization. By 2022, this co-developed driverless Robotaxi service will be available to the public via OnTime's platform.
Healthcare
· Qiming portfolio companies earned top honors at BayHelix awards – CanSino Biologics earned the Commercial Achievement of the Year award in recognition of the company’s Convidecia vaccine for COVID-19. Bo Ying, Founder and CEO of Abogen Biosciences, earned Person of the Year award, as his mRNA company raised more than $700 million in a Series C round.
· Torreya published “The Pharma 1000: Top Global Pharmaceutical Company Report”. Qiming portfolio companies including CanSino Biologics, Zai Lab, Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals, SinocellTech, Schrödinger, Jacobio Pharma, Connect Biopharma, Abbisko, Antengene among others were named on the list.
· The production of a single-shot COVID-19 vaccine made by CanSino SPH Biologics Inc, the first novel coronavirus vaccine producer in Shanghai, has recently been launched in Shanghai. CanSino SPH is a joint venture established by CanSino, the Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding Co and the Shanghai Biomedical Industry Equity Investment Fund.
· Abbisko Therapeutics has signed a global partnership and exclusive licensing agreement with Eli Lilly and Company to advance the discovery, development, and marketing of new molecules.
· Desano Pharmaceutical has agreed to produce low-cost versions of Merck & Co.’s Covid-19 antiviral pill for 105 lower-income countries. Desano is one of the five Chinese companies that signed agreements with the U.N.-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP).
· Insilico Medicine and Fosun Pharma have entered into a collaboration agreement. The partnership includes an AI-driven drug discovery research and development collaboration on four biological targets, as well as the co-development of Insilico’s QPCTL program.
· Insilico Medicine has been named by Frost & Sullivan the 2022 Entrepreneurial Company of the Year in the global AI-enabled drug discovery industry.
· Jacobio Pharma has received Investigational New Drug (IND) approval for its self-developed, first-in-class drug Aurora A inhibitor JAB-2485 from the FDA in the US.
· Hope Medicine announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for phase II study to evaluate HMI-115, a first-in-class monoclonal antibody drug in treating androgen alopecia.
· Antengene hosted two Investor R&D meetings to discuss the company’s vision, R&D philosophy and strategy. The company had secured 19 IND approvals, with more expected by the end of this year and Q1 2022. These achievements are a testament to Antengene’s operational excellence, efficiency and robust execution, said Jay Mei, M.D., Ph.D., Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Antengene.
· Zai Lab announced strategic collaboration with global precision therapy company Blueprint Medicines. Under the agreement, Zai Lab obtains exclusive rights to develop and commercialize BLU-945 and BLU-701 in Greater China.
· Zai Lab appointed Richard Gaynor, M.D., to its Board of Directors. Dr. Gaynor will also serve as Chair of the Research and Development Committee.
· Connect Biopharma announced the appointment of Mr. Steven Chan as Chief Financial Officer, expanding the executive leadership team. Chan has over 25 years of financial leadership and expertise across multiple industry sectors, including healthcare, biotechnology and financial services, and private, private-to-public transition and commercial-stage companies.
· Connect Biopharma completed full enrollment of phase 2 clinical trial evaluating CBP-307 in adult patients with moderate-to-severe Ulcerative Colitis (UC). This global, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 clinical trial is conducted at multiple sites, including in the U.S.
Qiming Updates
· Qiming Venture Partners has worked with the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation to launch a new initiative dedicated to empowering rural entrepreneurs. As part of the program, Qiming will donate a total of CNY 100 million to train and empower 2,000 rural entrepreneurs. We also aim to cultivate 40 social organizations in 40 counties across China.
· Qiming Venture Partners has successfully concluded its CEO Summit on December 30-31, 2021. With the theme of Infinity Innovation, this year’s event saw participation from high profile founders, entrepreneurs, and CEOs, as well as investors from the Qiming side, discussing various trending topics. In total, the summit attracted nearly 400,000 online viewers.
· Qiming’s Duane Kuang, Nisa Leung, William Hu and Kuantai Yeh have been named to Forbes’ annual list of Top 100 Venture Capitalists in China. Nisa is recognized as a top 3 venture capitalist in China and the highest-ranked female investor. Duane is ranked 11th on the list; William is ranked 27th and followed by Kuantai on the 48th place.
· Nisa Leung, Managing Partner of Qiming Venture Partners, shared thoughts with South China Morning Post on the HKEx listing reforms since 2018. Leung noted that the reforms had attracted a broad range of biotech, new economy and innovative, high-growth companies coming into Hong Kong to list. Chapter 18A allows biotechs to tap into the public investor pool early and raise money to fund additional R&D, commercialisation and potential globalisation. Three years on, it has made an enormous impact.
· Qiming Venture Partners is recognized as one of the best investors, ranked 8th with 17 portfolio companies including on this year’s Hurun China Cheetahs. This is an annual list of companies set up after 2000, with the most likelihood to ‘go unicorn’ within five years.
· Shiyu Wang has rejoined the firm as a Partner. Shiyu Wang will co-lead the TMT team, managing and investing in the internet and consumer sectors. Shiyu Wang has many years of investment experience in the internet and consumer industries, having previously worked at Qiming Venture Partners from 2012 to 2016.
· Qiming Venture Partners announced the promotions of Bonnie Wang and Dr. Kan Chen to Partner, and Xiaofei Zhou to Vice President. In addition, there were eight promotions from the finance, legal and administrative support teams.
Sources: Qiming Venture Partners, company press releases, media reports, etc.
