Baidu’s investment fund leads $100m round in Matrix China-backed healthtech startup

Weimai, a Chinese healthcare solution provider, announced that it has secured US$100 million in a series C+ round of funding led by Baidu Capital, the investment fund of the Chinese search engine giant.

Existing investors IDG Capital, Matrix Partners China, Source Code Capital, Vision Plus Capital, and Cenova Capital also participated in the round.

Weimai team / Source: WeImai

Founded in September 2015, Weimai operates an app and uses internet technology, artificial intelligence, and big data to support the provision of health services.

The company links users to hospitals and provides a one-stop platform for hospitals to manage their data. With the platform, users can also make appointments with doctors and pay medical bills online, among other functions.

The funding from this round will be used to further accelerate the company’s urbanization strategy, expand service coverage, and empower more hospitals, departments, and doctors.

Weimai claims that it has partnered with over 1,000 public hospitals in more than 160 cities across the country. With over 100,000 doctors on the platform, it currently serves over 700,000 users daily.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, medical services are shifting from offline to online. The company claims that it offered over 2 million online consulting services from just January to March this year.

“Weimai is in its mid and late stage of development. Its business model has been proved and is replicated by other firms. This is the right time for Baidu to join,” said Wang Yu, executive director at Baidu Capital.

The latest investment comes after Weimai raised US$100 million in a series C round led by IDG Capital in June last year. In 2016, the startup secured 120 million yuan (around US$18 million) in a series A round from Matrix Partners China, which was followed by a US$30 million series B round led by IDG Capital in 2018.