A big deal by a big backer
Chinese medical artificial intelligence startup Synyi raised RMB 250 million (USD 36.3 million) Series C led by Tencent, bringing its total funding to USD 81.1 million.
Why does this company stand out?
There is no shortage of AI-powered medtech startups in China, what sets Synyi apart, is the niche area in which the Shanghai-based company operates.
Most Chinese medtech startups develop artificial intelligence technologies to analyze medical imaging, while Synyi is one of the few engaging in MR (medical records) text and data analysis. Its medical informatics system extracts information from MRs and stores them in a structured database that could be later on used to pull data for deeper insights.
Synyi is riding a wave of Chinese hospitals’ digitization push. Currently, Chinese patients’ MRs are scattered among different medical institutions in a non-structured fashion. This makes it a daunting task to tap into MR information until companies like Synyi come into play.
Its products and solutions have been adopted by around 100 local hospitals. The company also partnered up with Huawei earlier this year in launching a big data center solutions for hospitals to help with their digital transformation.
Tencent’s medtech ambition
Tencent is probably one of the most prolific Chinese investors in medtech, the Shenzhen-based social media and gaming behemoth has invested around USD 2.9 billion (RMB 20 billion) into more than 30 medical tech startups, including half of China’s medtech unicorns.