Accelerating the Domestic Substitution of Cardiac Electrophysiology Products, "Aikemai Medical" Completes Over 100 Million Yuan Pre-B Round of Financing | Exclusive Report by 36Kr

Text by | Hu Xiangyun

Edited by | Hai Ruojing

36Kr learned that "Aikemai Medical" has completed a Pre-Series B financing round of over 100 million yuan. This round of financing was led by a fund under CICC Capital, followed by Yuanjing Capital and well - known industrial investors. Xingqiao Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor. The raised funds will be mainly used to accelerate the R & D and commercialization of the company's pulsed electric field ablation system, three - dimensional mapping system, and a series of electrophysiological consumables.

The cardiovascular field is the second - largest medical device market globally. Cardiac electrophysiology, as an important sub - direction, has achieved continuous growth for over 20 years. In the past nearly 30 years, radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation have been the mainstream interventional treatment methods. They ablate the lesions in the heart that cause abnormal electrical signals through thermal energy or low - temperature energy, thereby restoring the normal rhythm of the heart. However, these two traditional energy sources are non - tissue - selective. While destroying the lesion tissue, they may also damage surrounding tissues such as the esophagus and phrenic nerve.

In recent years, the emergence of a new generation of non - thermal ablation technology, pulsed electric field ablation (PFA), is expected to solve this problem. It selectively acts on myocardial cells through a high - voltage pulsed electric field without damaging the nerves, blood vessels, etc. adjacent to the myocardium. Therefore, it has become a direction that global medical device companies are competing to deploy.

In 2020, Aikemai Medical was founded against this background, focusing on the R & D of platform - type innovative technologies in the field of cardiac electrophysiology. Currently, Aikemai Medical has established a full - process product matrix of "three - dimensional equipment + consumables" covering the needs of the cardiac electrophysiology field. In 2025, four ablation products of the company, including the PFA ablation host, were successively approved for marketing.

"The ablation system and the three - dimensional mapping system are the core of the electrophysiology field. Based on the ablation - end products, our three - dimensional mapping system has also advanced to the registration study and obtained ethical approval. Soon, we will be able to use our own mapping system to cooperate with the PFA catheter to perform surgeries, which will further boost future commercialization," said the founder of Aikemai Medical.

Let's first look at the ablation system. The founder of Aikemai Medical introduced that at the beginning of the design, the company considered the compatibility issue between the product and the three - dimensional mapping system. Therefore, a circular design was adopted. To adapt to different pulmonary vein structures, a variable loop diameter design was also used.

To ensure that the catheter can better fit the heart wall, Aikemai Medical also developed a special intelligent algorithm to monitor and judge the catheter apposition situation. "The pulsed electric field energy has a fixed diameter range, and the ablation depth also has certain limitations. The better the apposition to the heart wall, the more thorough the transmural ablation and the better the ablation effect. To achieve this, without the cooperation of the three - dimensional mapping system, we independently developed the ablation apposition index. Through this function, doctors can see the catheter apposition situation in real - time during ablation to judge whether the apposition is good and can quantify it through the apposition value."

Meanwhile, the ablation effect also depends on the energy release scheme, the core of which is a combination of a series of parameters such as voltage, pulse width, and waveform. Different discharge modes have a significant impact on the ablation depth and uniformity. Therefore, the energy formula has also become the core "technical secret" of various PFA companies. "There are more than 50 parameters in the energy we release, and we are constantly improving and optimizing them to achieve better results."

According to the data provided by Aikemai Medical, the immediate pulmonary vein isolation rate of the company's PFA system during the operation reaches 100%, and the success rate of the 12 - month follow - up reaches 87.7%.

In addition, in terms of the three - dimensional mapping system, Aikemai Medical independently developed the third - generation three - dimensional mapping system and created an AI - driven three - dimensional mapping intelligent solution. The founder of Aikemai Medical explained that the amount of data generated by the three - dimensional mapping system during the diagnosis process is very large. "Just a two - or three - hour operation will collect hundreds of thousands of points of electrical signals", and the doctor's operations during the operation follow fixed norms and procedures, which are naturally compatible with AI technology.

It is reported that relying on a large amount of surgical data, AI can play the following main roles: First, AI has certain advantages in processing tiny electrical signals. Because AI can identify and amplify extremely tiny electrical signals, and these tiny electrical signals are often the precursors of the lesions causing atrial fibrillation. Second, AI assistance is expected to simplify the surgical process, reduce the doctor's dependence on the on - site engineers of the device manufacturers, and lower the hospital's labor costs.

Currently, Aikemai Medical has applied for a patent for "a method, device, and electronic equipment for three - dimensional cardiac mapping and reconstruction", which provides a more accurate three - dimensional cardiac model through the registration of the three - dimensional cardiac model based on the neural network algorithm.

It is also learned that in the first year of commercialization in 2025, Aikemai Medical achieved tens of millions of yuan in revenue. The company's PFA products have been applied in nearly 100 hospitals across the country and won the bid for the centralized procurement of electrophysiological medical consumables in Beijing in the same year. "The Beijing centralized procurement has helped us solve the hospital - end access problem to a certain extent, and the relevant medical insurance and surgical fee policies are also relatively perfect. Currently, the number of surgeries in the Beijing area accounts for the largest proportion of the company's total surgeries across the country."

Investors' Views:

The CICC Capital team said that the PFA market has broad prospects and has gradually become one of the mainstream therapies in the field of cardiac electrophysiology. Aikemai's PFA products have a unique variable loop diameter design, which can adapt to various clinical scenarios, and the 12 - month follow - up efficiency is leading in the industry. The company's independently developed three - dimensional mapping system combines magnetic - electric and ultrasonic technologies, with multiple advantages such as accurate positioning, strong compatibility, and great expandable potential. We are willing to work with Aikemai to promote the import substitution process of China's cardiac electrophysiology treatment industry and benefit more patients.

Tian Min, a medical partner of Yuanjing Capital, said that we are optimistic about the market opportunities and patient benefits brought about by the technological transformation of pulsed electric field ablation (PFA). Aikemai Company has made continuous investments and has a deep understanding of the PFA ablation system, three - dimensional mapping system, and electrophysiological consumables. We recognize the ability of the Aikemai team to continuously create a leading product portfolio in this field and further gather comprehensive advantages, and we also look forward to creating more value for patients and doctors.

Wu Zhipeng of Xingqiao Capital said that it is a great honor to assist Aikemai Medical in completing this round of financing. The cardiac electrophysiology field has developed vigorously in recent years, and the demand for domestic substitution is huge. With its international R & D capabilities and strategic layout, as well as excellent product performance, along with the successive certification of the overall product pipeline, the company is creating an AI - driven three - dimensional + PFA intelligent solution. We firmly believe that this financing will further boost the company's R & D and commercial development and continuously lead the track transformation and technological innovation.