Beauty Brands Entering China, Becoming India's Third-Largest E-Commerce Player, and Betting on Biomedical — 22 Developments and 5 Takeaways | FreeS Fund Bulletin · September
Do what's right, not what's easy.
On the first workday of October, we bring you the September edition of FreeS Fund's blackboard newsletter, sharing the latest updates with friends who have long followed and supported us:
- FreeS Fund led the RMB 42 million angel round in NeuroXess (优脑银河), strengthening its healthcare tech portfolio.
- FreeS Fund continued its follow-on investment in Changmu Valley (长木谷) in its Pre-A round.
- FreeS Fund was named to 36Kr's "Top 50 Early-Stage Investment Firms Most Popular Among Entrepreneurs in 2019," and founding partner Li Feng was named to 36Kr's "Top 50 Investors Most Popular Among Entrepreneurs in 2019."
We're also sharing good news from the FreeS Fund family:
Fintech: IceKredit completed RMB 335 million in Pre-C round funding.
Consumer: Club Factory surpassed Snapdeal to become India's third-largest e-commerce platform; Plant Enjoy (植观) launched antioxidant skincare brand "Yinnocent"; US DTC beauty brand "JUNO & Co." entered the China market.
Enterprise Services: At the 2019 Apsara Conference, Shangyue (商越) released its procurement solution for large and medium-sized enterprises' general supplies and signed with Joyoung; smart projector brand JMGO released three new smart projectors with SoundAI (声智科技) technology; Beijing Daxing International Airport officially opened, with CETC Huayun (电科华云) powering Airport 3.0; Sunac (阳光城) partnered with DataPipeline to build a real-time data supply chain.
Awards and Recognition: Bluepha was selected for the "Cleantech APAC 25" list; co-founder Haqian Zhang was named among "China's 100 Most Creative Business People 2019," and co-founder Teng Li was named among "China's 40 Business Elites Under 40 in 2019"; Onion Math (洋葱数学) received the Outstanding Case Award from the State Council's Poverty Alleviation Office's Corporate Poverty Alleviation Blue Book (2019) and was named to Cyzone's "Top 30 Chinese Education Innovators 2019"; Singleron and Leo Medical (乐奥医疗) won second prize at the "Entrepreneurship Jiangsu" Technology Innovation Competition;加特兰 won the "Technology Innovation Award" at the 21st China International Industry Fair; DeepCare co-led the "AI Removable Denture Design and Follow-up Platform" project to win second prize at the China Medical Device Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition; XtalPi was named to the "2019 Shenzhen Leading Biotech Enterprises Top 20" list.
In the context of innovation, the world moves at tremendous speed. We remain committed to doing what is right rather than what is easy, and look forward to continually encountering innovation and the extraordinary.
FreeS Fund News
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FreeS Fund Leads RMB 42 Million Angel Round in NeuroXess
On September 10, Beijing NeuroXess Technology announced RMB 42 million in angel funding to accelerate its mission of solving brain diseases. The round was led by FreeS Fund, with participation from Mint Ventures, Tsingyuan Ventures (US), and Ray Stata (US).
NeuroXess is a brain science company co-founded in late 2018 by Professor Hesheng Liu of Harvard Medical School, MIT Academician Robert Desimone, MIT Academician Guoping Feng, and entrepreneur Kecheng Wei.
NeuroXess aims to become a world-class brain science platform company. It hopes to leverage breakthrough brain science research and novel software and hardware technologies to help humanity deeply understand our brains and tackle brain diseases — one of the greatest challenges facing human society. (See full coverage: [VB动脉网] NeuroXess secures RMB 42 million angel investment to accelerate R&D for brain disease solutions)
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FreeS Fund Continues Follow-On Investment in Orthopedic AI Company Changmu Valley's Pre-A Round
On September 24, Beijing Changmu Valley Medical Technology announced the completion of tens of millions of RMB in Pre-A funding. The round was led by Legend Star, with FreeS Fund and Wanhui Capital participating. Proceeds will be used to expand the company's AI orthopedic product line, pursue clinical registration certificates, and drive clinical adoption of AI products. In November 2018, Changmu Valley had previously raised tens of millions of RMB in seed funding led by FreeS Fund.
Dr. Yiling Zhang, CEO of Changmu Valley, said: "The most difficult aspect of AI healthcare is product deployment. Our team combining medical and engineering expertise enables Changmu Valley to identify clinical pain points, deeply understand doctors' actual needs, and develop AI products that solve real problems for orthopedic surgeons." (See full coverage: [VB动脉网] Orthopedic AI high-tech company Changmu Valley completes tens of millions in Pre-A funding, led by Legend Star, with FreeS Fund and Wanhui Capital participating)
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FreeS Fund Receives Two Recognitions from 36Kr's 2019 Most Popular Among Entrepreneurs Rankings
On September 18, 2019, in Shenzhen, at the 36Kr Future Investors Summit, the 2019 Most Popular Investment Firms/Investors TOP100 list was unveiled:
FreeS Fund was named to "Top 50 Early-Stage Investment Firms Most Popular Among Entrepreneurs in China 2019," ranked #2
FreeS Fund founding partner Li Feng was named to "Top 50 Investors Most Popular Among Entrepreneurs in China 2019"
This marks the third consecutive year that both FreeS Fund and Li Feng have appeared on the list since 36Kr launched its "Annual Most Popular" series in 2017. (See full coverage: [36Kr] Major release: 2019 Most Popular Investment Firms/Investors TOP100 list unveiled)
FreeS Fund Perspectives
▍Li Feng: Different Driving Factors in US and China Consumer Markets
Most world-renowned American consumer brands were born between 1950 and 1970, after WWII. That period saw America's first consumer wave — a classic episode of mass consumption upgrading. The infrastructure built by the New Deal before the war, combined with the spread of automobiles driven by the auto industry's development, triggered people's aspirations for a better life.
To put it simply: the wonderful things that families would drive out to see and experience together became the archetypal world-class consumer brands.
In contrast, looking at China from the birth of e-commerce, its rapid growth began after commercialization of residential housing in first- and second-tier cities. Owning one's first home was the starting point of our aspiration for a better life, driving us to purchase goods that would improve and elevate the quality of our lives. (See full coverage: [Jianshi见实] The hidden logic behind iteration and explosion of new business models: An ultra-deep sharing from FreeS Fund's Li Feng)
▍Huang Hai: Using Coffee to Understand Consumer Category Screening Logic
A question we often ponder is: in the consumer goods space, what makes a good category? In other words, how do we find areas worth paying attention to and digging deeper into, and then discover good companies within them?
Industry characteristics are the immutable part of category attributes. The long-standing advantages of the coffee category are the high frequency, high margins, and high repurchase rates analyzed above.
High frequency and high repurchase are slightly different: high frequency means high consumption frequency within the category, which determines how marketing works in this industry. High repurchase means that a single SKU within the category can be repeatedly purchased and consumed.
Changing trends, meanwhile, are the evolving attributes of a category — the opportunity for its rapid rise.
This can be divided into two aspects. One is changes on the content and distribution side — whether new media formats are emerging that can best drive the rise of certain categories. The other is changes on the channel side, typically opportunities moving from offline to online. Specifically, when demand for a category is growing but existing large offline companies haven't focused on covering it, the space is large enough. (See full coverage: [FreeS Fund] The Category Logic Behind the Buzz — Using Coffee Industry Investment as an Example)
▍Wang Yikai: Trends in Cost Structure Adjustment for the Pharmaceutical and Chemical Industry — Machines Replacing Humans
No matter how mature and powerful AI route design becomes, it can currently only replace 80-90% of human cognitive work. This is because the data closed loop has not yet formed — computers still lack the ability to analyze and judge based on results. So there remains one final link to complete: intelligent monitoring of chemical reactions, meaning enabling algorithms to judge whether a reaction has produced the expected product, how to optimize if yield is low, and what to do if no product is formed.
If route design (the brain) can predict the most viable reaction pathways, automated synthesis equipment (the hands) can execute them, and results can be monitored (the eyes) and fed back to the route design software (back to the brain) for adjustment and optimization (judgment and decision-making) — if all three steps can be automated with rapid data accumulation and iterative upgrading, then organic synthesis will be well on its way to true intelligence. (For more, see: FreeS Fund: Investment Opportunities in the Pharmaceutical and Chemical Industry Upgrade)
FreeS Fund Portfolio Updates
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Fintech | IceKredit Raises 335 Million Yuan in Pre-C Round
IceKredit recently completed a 335 million yuan Pre-C round led by Guohe Capital, a subsidiary of Shanghai International Group. Existing investor Yunqi Capital followed on without additional super pro-rata rights, while other existing investors also participated. This round exceeds the 315 million yuan IceKredit had raised across all prior rounds combined.
Founder, Chairman, and CEO Lingyun Gu said the funding will go toward three priorities: expanding R&D teams and building out its AI research institute, business intelligence analytics, and big data engineering capabilities; aggressively growing overseas business; and strategic investments and M&A along the supply chain to strengthen its ecosystem and market position.
Previously, IceKredit raised 315 million yuan across angel, Pre-A, A, and B rounds from investors including FreeS Fund, Yunqi Capital, CCV, and Youzu Network. (For more, see: [IceKredit] IceKredit Completes 335 Million Yuan Pre-C Round Led by Guohe Capital)
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Consumer | Club Factory Surpasses Snapdeal to Become India's Third-Largest E-commerce Platform
App Annie data shows that Club Factory's monthly active users in India have surpassed Snapdeal, making it the country's third-largest e-commerce platform. The company also announced plans to open a fourth warehouse in Mumbai, adding to its existing three facilities in India.
Club Factory founder and CEO Yun Lou said he hopes to shape the future of Indian e-commerce alongside Flipkart and Amazon. (For more, see: [Baijing Chuhai] Club Factory Surpasses Snapdeal as India's Third-Largest E-commerce Platform — This Company Really Understands India)
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Consumer | Zhi Guan Launches Antioxidant Skincare Brand "Yinnocent"
Zhi Guan recently debuted Yinnocent, a new antioxidant skincare brand. The company originally entered the market with scalp care products featuring amino acid-based hair care formulas. Over time, Zhi Guan gradually expanded from scalp care into broader skincare categories, launching a carbonated amino acid cleansing mousse based on its "amino acid" brand identity, followed by masks, toners, and other skincare products.
On the Yinnocent WeChat account, Zhi Guan explained that consumer demand feedback on skincare products led the team to create the new brand, which focuses on antioxidant skincare specifically designed for night owls.
Yinnocent has launched three products so far: a brightening serum, face mask, and eye mask — all targeting late-night usage scenarios. The products are now available on Tmall, Xiaohongshu, and Youzan. (For more, see: [BrandStar] Zhi Guan Launches Antioxidant Skincare Brand "Yinnocent," Designed for Night Owls)
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Consumer | US DTC Beauty Brand JUNO & Co. Enters China
JUNO & Co. is a US-based direct-to-consumer beauty brand whose debut product, a makeup sponge, became a hit within nine months of launch and sold over one million units in its first year.
The brand's two founders are Mira Torres and Kyle Jiang. Torres was the first employee at US beauty e-commerce platform IPSY, where she helped build $300 million in annual revenue and managed over three million users. Jiang is a Chinese-American Berkeley graduate and serial entrepreneur in Silicon Valley.
After establishing itself with the bestselling makeup sponge, JUNO & Co. began extending into additional categories, with more products rolling out soon.
The brand had already gained some traction on Chinese social platforms including Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and Weibo, though sales previously relied mainly on daigou (personal shoppers). In 2019, JUNO & Co. established an office in Guangzhou to formally enter the China market, with its Tmall flagship store launching at the end of August.
JUNO & Co. positions itself with a European-American retro aesthetic, focusing on light Western-style dimensional makeup. The team has observed a notable rise in Western makeup trends in China in recent years — the bold, expressive characteristics of Western makeup align with young consumers' desire to express individuality and self-identity. For JUNO & Co., the timing to enter China couldn't be better. (For more, see: [36Kr] Selling One Million Makeup Sponges in a Year, US DTC Beauty Brand JUNO & Co. Enters China)
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Enterprise Services | Shangyue Debuts Enterprise Procurement Solution for Large and Mid-Sized Companies at 2019 Apsara Conference, Signs Partnership with Joyoung
On September 25, Shangyue made its first appearance at Alibaba's 2019 Apsara Conference. As the conference's sole partner in intelligent procurement, Shangyue announced a procurement solution for large and mid-sized enterprises' general supplies. Shangyue Vice President Zuo Mo detailed the solution's features and value through real-world procurement scenarios.
The following day at the conference, leading small appliance brand Joyoung (A-share: 002242) formally signed a partnership with Shangyue to build a digital enterprise procurement platform.
Through its intelligent procurement middleware and efficient SaaS applications, Shangyue will help Joyoung upgrade from information-based to digital procurement, digitizing purchasing across administration, POP, IT, equipment and instruments, and production auxiliary materials. The signing ceremony was attended by Alibaba Vice President and Alibaba Cloud Intelligence New Retail President Xiaohua Xiao, Alibaba Industrial Internet Research Center Director Weiru Chen, Joyoung CIO Xiaobin Zhang, and Shangyue founder and CEO Feng Miao. (For more, see: [Shangyue] Shangyue Debuts at Alibaba Apsara Conference, Releases Enterprise Procurement Solution for Large and Mid-Sized Companies; [Shangyue] Joyoung Signs with Shangyue at 2019 Apsara Conference to Build Digital Procurement Benchmark in Small Appliance Industry)
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Enterprise Services | JMGO Launches Three Smart Projectors in Succession, Powered by SoundAI Technology
Leading smart projector brand JMGO recently released three new models — the J7S, J9, and G7S — all equipped with SoundAI's SoundAI Azero intelligent operating system. Building on continuously optimized audiovisual quality, the projectors use far-field voice interaction to deliver a fresh home theater experience.
On one hand, addressing the common issue of washed-out, blurry projection images, the new models boost lumens to achieve picture quality rivaling laser TVs. On the other hand, tackling pain points like misplaced remotes and time-consuming content searches, they offer far-field intelligent voice as a more human-centric interaction method. The dual approach of improved audiovisuals plus far-field voice interaction enhances user experience and gives JMGO an edge in an increasingly competitive market. (For more, see: [SoundAI] Behind the Market Competition: How Smart Projectors Upgrade the Home Theater Experience)
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Enterprise Services | Beijing Daxing International Airport Officially Opens, with CETC Huayun Powering Airport 3.0
The commissioning ceremony for Beijing Daxing International Airport was held on the morning of the 25th. The airport is built around an "Airport 3.0 Smart Airport" operations and management philosophy, complemented by an "Internet + Airport" concept. It leverages cloud computing, IoT, big data, mobile internet, and other next-generation information technologies to construct a three-dimensional, comprehensively connected airport information system enabling information sharing and full coordination.
Since 2017, CETC Huayun (电科华云) has been involved in the platform's construction, independently undertaking the development and deployment of the "Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) management components." Huayun's PaaS components serve as the innovation engine for Beijing Daxing International Airport — connecting heterogeneous virtual resources below, interfacing with airport cloud management and operations above, linking internal airport data services, and effectively supporting the new airport's microservices architecture and innovative business applications externally. It is the critical middleware layer bridging the foundational cloud platform. (Source: 【CETC Huayun】Beijing Daxing International Airport Officially Takes Off! CETC Huayun Helps Airport 3.0 Land)
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Enterprise Services | Yango Group Partners with DataPipeline to Build a Real-Time Data Supply Chain
Chinese real estate companies have shifted from driving performance through land and capital resources to focusing on brand, quality, and service — entering a phase of deep, intensive development. The defining feature of this stage is the urgent need for innovation-driven resources, with data assets becoming the industry's most critical "heavy asset."
Yango Group, ranked among China's top 15 real estate developers, faces a competitive and uncertain market environment. While exploring new business extensions, the company is working to accelerate transformation and upgrading by unlocking data value.
To ensure business units can access data anytime, anywhere, Yango Group's IT department partnered with DataPipeline, aiming to build a real-time data supply chain through a batch-and-stream unified data integration platform. (Full coverage: 【DataPipeline】Yango Group × DataPipeline | Real-Time Data Synchronization, Sharing the Light of Data)
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FreeS Fund Portfolio News
▍Bluepha Wins 3 Awards: "Cleantech APAC 25," Fast Company "100 Most Creative People in Business China (MCP100)," and Fortune "40 Under 40 China Business Elite 2019"
Recently, Bluepha was selected for the second annual APAC 25 list by international clean energy organization Cleantech. Chinese companies on the first APAC 25 included DiDi and Xpeng Motors.
APAC 25 recognizes 25 Asia-Pacific companies committed to sustainable innovation that Cleantech believes could significantly impact markets within a 5–10 year timeframe.
Additionally, Bluepha co-founder and CEO Haoqian Zhang was named to Fast Company's "100 Most Creative People in Business China (MCP100)," and co-founder Teng Li was featured on Fortune (Chinese edition)'s "40 Under 40 China Business Elite" list. (Full coverage: 【Bluepha】Bluepha Earns International Recognition with Cleantech APAC 25 Selection; 【Fast Company】2019 MCP100 China List Released; 【Fortune China】2019 40 Under 40 China Business Elite)
▍Onion Math Wins Outstanding Case Award in State Council Poverty Alleviation Office's Corporate Poverty Alleviation Blue Book (2019), Selected for Cyzone's 2019 China EdTech Innovators 30
On September 20, 2019, the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences jointly released the Corporate Poverty Alleviation Blue Book (2019) in Shenzhen.
Over the past five-plus years, Onion Math has actively responded to the Party and state's education-targeted poverty alleviation policies, embracing corporate social responsibility. Its education-targeted poverty alleviation practice in Zhaojue County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province was selected for the blue book and awarded "Outstanding Corporate Poverty Alleviation Case." (Full coverage: 【Onion Math】Onion Math Wins Outstanding Case Award in State Council Poverty Alleviation Office's Corporate Poverty Alleviation Blue Book (2019))
On September 18, at the "2019 DEMO CHINA • Future Tech Festival" co-hosted by Cyzone and the Hangzhou Municipal Government, Cyzone released its "2019 China EdTech Innovators 30" list, with edtech company Onion Math among the selections. (Full coverage: 【Cyzone】【List】Cyzone 2019 China EdTech Innovators 30 Released — New Opportunities in Education Innovation)
▍"Startup Jiangsu" Sci-Tech Innovation Competition: Singleron and Lepu Medical Win Second Prize
From September 10–12, the 7th "Startup Jiangsu" Sci-Tech Entrepreneurship Competition finals were held in Nanjing's Jiangbei New Area. Fifty-two startup teams and companies from various regions competed fiercely for final rankings.
Singleron and Lepu Medical stood out among numerous projects, winning second prize in the startup enterprise group and growth enterprise group respectively. (Full coverage: 【Startup Jiangsu Official Website】Announcement of 7th "Startup Jiangsu" Sci-Tech Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Winners)
▍加特兰 Wins 21st China International Industry Fair "Technology Innovation Award"
The 21st China International Industry Fair opened on September 17 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). With the theme "Intelligence, Interconnection — Empowering New Industrial Development," the expo showcased outstanding products in AI, advanced manufacturing, and other fields.
The "Innovation & Technology Pavilion" organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology and Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission was equally impressive.加特兰微电子 was invited to exhibit, demonstrating live to visitors how its 77GHz/60GHz mmWave radar chips enable indoor personnel detection and tracking.
The product's excellent performance and technological leadership earned unanimous recognition from the CIIF judging panel, winning the 21st China International Industry Fair — 2019 Technology Innovation Award. (Full coverage: 【加特兰微电子科技】加特兰 Wins 21st China International Industry Fair "Technology Innovation Award")
▍DeepCare-Led "AI Removable Denture Design and Follow-Up Platform" Wins Second Prize at China Medical Device Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition
The 2019 China Medical Device Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition finals, guided by the Ministry of Science and Technology, were held in Kunshan, Suzhou on September 5. The "AI Removable Denture Design and Follow-Up Platform" project, jointly led by Professor Xuliang Deng, Vice President of Peking University School of Stomatology, and Dr. Hailong Bai, CTO of DeepCare, won second place — ranking 3rd among 283 competing teams.
The project involves building large-scale datasets, using deep learning to establish a clinical decision support system for denture design, automatically generating personalized solutions, and creating intelligent oral follow-up mechanisms. It bridges communication between patients and doctors, improves the design capabilities and efficiency of grassroots dental practitioners, and enhances quality of life for patients with dental arch defects.
The system is currently being piloted at Peking University School of Stomatology and will gradually expand to more grassroots oral medical institutions, forming a commercial闭环 and delivering tangible value to grassroots doctors and patients. (Full coverage: 【DeepCare】 "AI Removable Denture Design and Follow-Up Platform" Wins Second Prize at China Medical Device Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition)
▍XtalPi Selected for 2019 Shenzhen Leading Biotech Enterprises Top 20
On the morning of September 11, the "2019 Shenzhen Leading Biotech Enterprises Top 20" list, jointly released by KPMG China and Shenzhen National High-Tech Industrial Innovation Center, was officially announced at the opening ceremony of the 2019 Shenzhen International BT Leaders Summit.
XtalPi was selected as a "leader in AI-driven drug R&D," with Chief Scientist Dr. Peiyu Zhang accepting the award on behalf of the company. (Full coverage: 【XtalPi】XtalPi Selected for 2019 Shenzhen Leading Biotech Enterprises Top 20)
FreeS Fund Perspectives
▍商越 Miao Feng: Four Measures for Enterprise Digital Transformation
The four measures for enterprise digital transformation can be summarized as: infrastructure cloudification, IT architecture middleware-ization, application SaaS-ification, and external connectivity. Previously, to undertake a project, companies had to build or lease their own IDC (Internet Data Center) — an additional cost for any firm.
Most companies' core competency isn't building infrastructure, but using it well. As companies grow, application scenarios gradually multiply. With middleware system support, building application scenarios is much faster than traditional approaches, while application stability is significantly higher — gradually demonstrating middleware's value.
Compared to on-premise deployment, SaaS offers out-of-the-box usability, standardized interfaces, and continuous upgrade iterations — all better suited for future enterprise growth and more resource-efficient for society. (Full coverage: 【商越】How Enterprises Should Approach Digital Transformation | CEIBS "Ten Years Forward" Event Sharing)
▍泽金金服 Xin Hongjun: Three Capabilities Factoring Companies Must Have
A factoring company truly engaged in supply chain finance must understand finance, industry, and technology. Understanding finance means having risk control and operations capabilities on par with banks; understanding industry means grasping the process controls of large core enterprises' procurement and sales cycles; understanding technology means implementing massive operational work and risk control measures through systems and technology to reduce labor input and eliminate moral hazard and human error. (Full coverage: 【泽金金服】Charging at the Same "Breach" — What Is This Supply Chain FinTech Company Obsessively Pursuing?)
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