Yingke Biopharmaceutical has raised 300 million yuan ($42.4 million) in a Series B round led by Hong Kong-listed China Life Insurance’s private equity arm as it looks to expand its operations across the country.
Others who participated in the round are VC firm Sherpa Healthcare Partners, as well as state-affiliated investors including Xinshang Capital and BCT Capital (also known as Bei Chuang Tou).
The Taizhou-headquartered firm, in a media statement, said it will use the proceeds for its next phase of growth.
Establihed in January 2022, the biopharmaceutical firm is engaged in the R&D of drugs that are used to treat parenteral nutrition. It also makes drugs that are used for anaesthesia, SARS-CoV-2 detection, and tumours.
Yingke also counts state-affiliated investor Huayin Financial among its backers.
Startup funding in Greater China is gradually gaining steam as companies across diverse spheres are looking to expand their operations.
In the pharmaceutical space alone, a total of 46 firms secured around $1.5 billion in funding from investors in the first quarter of this year. In terms of value, this is a whopping 213.7 from $478.2 million in Q4 2022, according to DealStreetAsia’s proprietary data.
