Qitan Tech Raises Over 400 Million Yuan in Series B, Leading the Nanopore Gene Sequencer Race
China's first fully self-developed nanopore gene sequencer is slated for mass production later this year.
On June 8, Qitan Technology announced the completion of a Series B funding round exceeding RMB 400 million, jointly led by Hillhouse and CDH Investments VGC (Venture and Growth Capital Fund), with participation from multiple new and existing investors. Gaorong Ventures had led Qitan Technology's Series A round in 2020 and continued to invest in this round.
Accelerating Commercialization: Domestic Nanopore Gene Sequencer Nears Market Entry
Founded in 2016, Qitan Technology focuses on the independent R&D, manufacturing, and application development of nanopore single-molecule gene sequencers and supporting reagents and chips. Following this funding round, Qitan will further increase its investment in scientific research and accelerate its commercialization efforts.
According to reports, Qitan Technology's domestically developed nanopore gene sequencer — the first fully independently developed unit in China — is planned for mass production within this year. At that point, Qitan Technology will become the only domestic company and the second globally to reach commercial application stage for fourth-generation gene sequencing technology, breaking the foreign monopoly on single-molecule gene sequencing core technologies.
Pioneering the Frontier of Gene Sequencing, Connecting Full Pipeline from Research to Commercial Application
According to industry research reports by Forward Industry Research Institute, the global gene sequencing market is projected to reach $17.6 billion in 2021, with the Chinese market expected to hit RMB 20.5 billion.
Qitan Technology has adopted nanopore strand sequencing as its technical approach for gene sequencer development. Bai Jingwei, co-founder and chief scientist of Qitan Technology, explains that nanopore strand sequencing involves driving a single nucleic acid molecule through a nanoscale protein pore under the dual action of electric field force and motor protein-controlled speed, in continuous single-strand nucleic acid form. As different bases pass through, they cause varying degrees of disruption to the ionic current within the pore. By capturing these time-varying current signals, the arrangement of bases can be identified in real time, thereby enabling sequencing of single-strand nucleic acid molecules.
This represents the most cutting-edge technology in the gene sequencing field. Qitan's R&D team accomplished in just four years what took foreign competitors nearly a decade, successfully launching a product prototype in 2020. The company has established a complete pipeline from research to commercial application, with fully independent intellectual property rights across several core technical domains including protein engineering, fluidic chips, signal processing electronics, and software algorithms.
Entering Broad Application Markets, Supporting Industry Ecosystem Development
Compared to previous generations of gene sequencing technology, nanopore gene sequencers offer marked advantages: lower barriers to operation, more granular application scenarios, and faster detection speeds. As technology advances, the gene sequencer market is exhibiting a trend similar to consumer electronics — evolving from PC-like platforms toward mobile platforms. Sequencing costs are dropping substantially, detection speeds are increasing, and instruments are becoming increasingly portable and compact, effectively addressing operational costs and timeliness challenges in low-sample-volume situations.
Xie Dan, co-founder of Qitan Technology, identifies precision diagnosis of infectious diseases, genetic disease and tumor gene variant detection, and forensic science as promising initial application areas for nanopore gene sequencers.
Dr. Hu Geng, co-founder and chairman of Qitan Technology, noted that in less than five years since its founding, Qitan has efficiently completed the technical R&D and product finalization of its first domestic nanopore gene sequencer, with mass production scheduled for this year. Following this funding round, Qitan Technology will devote more resources to team expansion, product upgrades, production capacity enhancement, and business development, working to bring faster and better gene sequencing technology to broader application scenarios.
Gene sequencer R&D and manufacturing represents the upstream segment of the industry, providing foundational support for downstream testing and applications across various specialized fields. Going forward, Qitan Technology will develop toward becoming an upstream platform enterprise, helping downstream partners build a market ecosystem based on fourth-generation gene sequencing technology by providing core instruments and consumables.
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