Tencent-backed China online healthcare venture raises $250 million – Reuters
What happened: Online healthcare platform Tencent Trusted Doctorwork said on Wednesday it has raised $250 million in a fresh round of funding. The investment was led by Chinese real estate developer Country Garden Holdings, Tencent, and Sequoia Capital. The company was established through a merger of two China-based e-medical startups — Tencent Doctorwork and Trusted Doctors in August 2018. This latest round values it at $1 billion, said Reuters citing a person familiar with the matter as saying.
Why it’s important: An internet-driven healthcare service provider, Tencent Trusted Doctorwork offers online consulting and pharmacy services to upwards of 10 million patients with its access to 440,000 certified doctors, the company said. It also plans to run 500 offline clinics across the country by 2021 to expand its share of the offline market. The company is one of the providers behind the online clinic services on Tencent’s super messaging app WeChat, which began testing in mid-March. Another clinic reservation platform, WeDoctor, was also backed by Tencent in a $394 million fundraising in 2014, as the Chinese tech giant is looking to transform the country’s overburdened public healthcare market.