China’s Digital Hospital SPH Notches $159.7 Million Series B

SPH Health Commerce, an online pharmacy and hospital in China, landed a 1.033 billion yuan ($159.7 million) Series B funding round led by Shanghai Biomedical Industrial Equity Investment Fund and JIC Investment.

Other investors included Sinocare; Shanghai SITICO Asset Management, New Alliance Capital, Ample Harvest Finance, and Huadong Industrial, according to a DealStreetAsia report on Friday (Feb. 19).

SPH was founded in March 2015 by Shanghai Pharma and is headquartered in Shanghai. The new funding will enable the company to operate separately from China’s Shanghai Pharmaceuticals, which is a pharmaceutical manufacturer and distributor.

The funding will also help SPH consolidate its network of hospital-centered Chinese pharmacies, as well as direct-to-patient pharmacies, which can extend healthcare services to consumers.

SPH is also planning to use some of the new funds for its online prescription and pharmacy businesses while advancing its market position as “an Internet-enabled medicine platform centered around patients,” according to the news outlet.

SPH recently closed two acquisition deals for pharmacy chains Guangzhou Baiji Xinte and Cardinal China. Guangzhou Baiji Xinte provides remedies to help people with chronic diseases. Cardinal China is a drug distribution company.

Before the Series B round, SPH had raised a combined 1.333 billion yuan in a 2015 Series A and 2016 Series A+ round in 2016. 

The pandemic year of 2020 will likely go down in history as one that saw declining hospital and medical care financials at a time those bottom lines should have been flourishing and at a time when demand was higher than ever. PYMNTS’ January 2021 Healthcare Payment Experience Report, done in collaboration with Rectangle Health, indicated that physician networks and health systems lost billions in revenue during the first few months of 2020.

Traditional healthcare was further disrupted by the pandemic but also sparked an escalation in innovation at the crossroads of healthcare, technology and payments. From telehealth to financing, franchises like Walmart, Walgreens and CVS are finding ways to profit from the possibilities.