Waterdrop Mutual Aid

Waterdrop Mutual Aid (水滴互助) was a medical mutual-aid community operated by Waterdrop Inc., the insurance-tech company founded by former Meituan executive Shen Peng in 2016 . The platform organized members to pool risk collectively against critical illnesses like cancer, offering low-barrier, affordable health coverage aimed at lower-income populations . By early 2019 it had surpassed 75 million members and disbursed over RMB 350 million in mutual aid funds to more than 2,500 families ; by mid-2020 that figure had grown to roughly 12,819 families assisted with over RMB 1.6 billion distributed . It formed one leg of Waterdrop's "fundraising + mutual aid + insurance" ecosystem alongside the zero-fee medical crowdfunding platform Waterdrop Crowdfunding (水滴筹) and the insurance marketplace Waterdrop Insurance Mall (水滴保) . Gaorong Ventures, an early backer of Waterdrop from its angel round through its IPO, consistently listed Waterdrop Mutual Aid among its portfolio companies through at least 2018 . The mutual aid segment was later shut down by 2021 as regulatory pressure on China's internet mutual-aid sector mounted, leaving Waterdrop's two remaining core businesses at its May 2021 NYSE listing: Waterdrop Crowdfunding and Waterdrop Insurance Mall .