In 2014, financing for internet healthcare surged, with a total of 103 funding deals nationwide, raising US$141.79009 million. Industry insiders believe that, in terms of market strength, China’s healthcare information sector has now evolved into a tripartite competitive landscape dominated by domestic firms alongside European, American, and Japanese players.

　　In 2014, financing for internet healthcare surged, with a total of 103 funding deals nationwide, raising US$141.79009 million. Industry insiders believe that, in terms of market strength, China’s healthcare information sector has now evolved into a tripartite competitive landscape dominated by domestic firms, along with European, American, and Japanese players.

　　The Internet Healthcare Research Institute of Arterial Network recently released investment and financing statistics showing that in 2014 there were 103 financing deals in China’s internet healthcare sector, with total funding reaching US$141.79009 million. Industry insiders believe that “in the mid-to-late stages of internet penetration, the digital transformation of the healthcare industry will become an inevitable trend. Internet giants and pharmaceutical e-commerce companies are actively expanding into online healthcare. From a competitive standpoint, China’s healthcare information industry has now evolved into a tripartite structure dominated by domestic firms, alongside European, American, and Japanese players.”

　　In 2014, financing for internet healthcare surged: there were 30 angel-round financings totaling US$9.6991 million; 48 Series A rounds raising US$209.9738 million; 10 Series B rounds securing US$140.275 million; and 10 Series C rounds that raised US$687.323 million. In August 2014, Chunyu Doctor closed a US$50 million Series C round; in September of the same year, DXY received a US$70 million strategic investment from Tencent, while Quyi.com secured a multi-million-dollar Series A round led by two prominent venture capital firms, Honghui Capital and SoftBank.

　　Industry insiders say: “The sector is currently in the market-launch phase, with medical resources and innovation capabilities emerging as the primary competitive differentiators. Investment and financing activity is relatively limited in Series B, Series C, and later rounds, with most funding still concentrated in the early stages.”

　　The internet-based pharmaceutical industry encompasses not only e-commerce models for the pharmaceutical sector and third-party online trading platforms, but also mobile healthcare and the O2O model, which is currently being explored. Within this sector, mobile healthcare has emerged as a major focus; it is projected that by 2017 the overall scale of China’s internet healthcare market will reach RMB 36.53 billion, with mobile healthcare accounting for over RMB 20 billion—representing 55% of the total.

　　As of June 2014, China’s mobile Internet user base reached 527 million, an increase of 26.99 million from 2013. The proportion of Internet users accessing the web via mobile devices further rose from 81% in 2013 to 83.4%, marking the first time that the mobile Internet user population surpassed that of traditional PC-based Internet users. With the widespread adoption of smartphones and the rapid development of the mobile Internet, mobile e-commerce has begun to take shape. At present, China boasts more than 2,000 mobile health-care apps. These healthcare applications for various mobile operating systems fall into five main categories: first, e-commerce platforms for pharmaceutical products, offering drug information and online purchasing services, such as “Palm Pharmacy,” “Medication Assistant,” “Drug Guide,” and “No. 1 Store”; second, apps designed to meet the needs of medical professionals for accessing specialized information and consulting medical reference materials, including “Medical Time” and “Medical Literature”; third, apps that help users find doctors and schedule consultations, such as “Chunyu Doctor” and “Seeking Doctors and Medicines”; fourth, appointment-booking and doctor-guidance services, like “Registration Butler” and “Registration Assistant”; and fifth, niche-function apps, such as “Heart Rate Zone,” which measures heart rate. (Beijing Business Today)