Spring Rain gets fund inflow to expand database of users, doctors

China's leading mobile healthcare company Spring Rain has finished its Series C financing totaling $50 million, and its registered users are expected to total 100 million by the end of 2015, its CEO said.

"The funds will be used for increasing the numbers of registered users and doctors," said Zhang Rui, CEO of Beijing Spring Rain Software Co Ltd, which specializes in a mobile health application.

Zhang Rui, CEO of Beijing Spring Rain Software Co Ltd, which specializes in a mobile health application.

Spring Rain announced on Wednesday that it received funds totaling $50 million from investors, including China International Capital Corp Ltd, Hangzhou Rushan Venture Capital Investment Co Ltd and Pavilion Capital Pte Ltd.

Spring Rain so far has accumulated 30 million registered users and 40,000 signed doctors.

"By the end of 2015, we are planning to have 100 million registered users and at least 200,000 signed doctors," said Zhang.

"We want to rebuild the healthcare sector, rather than subvert it," said Zhang. "The emergence of the mobile Internet can be a watershed for human beings to explore their own bodies and health."

Spring Rain has built a "clinic in the air", which means that users can communicate with doctors on the Spring Rain mobile phone application, either by instant message or telephone. About 50,000 questions are answered each day in this manner, and they are included in the Spring Rain database.

Users can access any doctor for advice for free, and Spring Rain will pay the bill, but if someone wants advice from a particular doctor, they will face a charge ranging from 6 yuan (97 cents) to 999 yuan.

According to Zhang, they are seeking a business pattern by cooperating with hospitals, insurance companies and pharmacies.

"Public hospitals show a tolerant attitude to our cooperation with their doctors, and they will gradually welcome us because we bring patients to them," said Zhang. "Private hospitals have been very interested in cooperating with us."

Besides the clinic in the air, Spring Rain is also going to help people understand their bodies better and the importance of keeping fit.

Spring Rain is cooperating with e-commerce giant JD.com in the sale of wearable devices that make use of its data interpretation services.

"Body data collected through wearable devices can be interpreted by us, and people can receive advice on keeping fit and healthy," said Zhang.

By way of an example, Spring Rain has provided weight-loss programs based on an individual's body data interpreted by doctors.

Spring Rain is also cooperating with BGI, a Shenzhen-based world leading genomics organization.

Zhang said China has more than 100 companies engaged in mobile healthcare businesses or planning to develop them, but they are still at the beginning and in the process of exploring all the opportunities the market has to offer.

Established in July 2011, Spring Rain received $3 million of Series A financing from Singaporean venture capital firm BlueRun Ventures by the end of that year. It finished Series B financing totaling $8 million from Bertelsmann Asia Investments in 2013.

US-listed Concord Medical Services Holdings Ltd, the operator of the largest network of radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging centers in China, has launched a mobile health application called DoctorInPocket or Zhang Shang Hao Yi.

DoctorInPocket is a doctor-patient communication and diagnosis application. Through an easy-to-complete registration process, patients can establish a patient-doctor relationship with selected doctors.