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Tigermed
Tigermed was founded in 2004 by billionaire entrepreneurs Ye Xiaoping and Cao Xiaochun in Hangzhou, starting as a clinical research organization serving...
Tigermed
Tigermed was founded in 2004 by billionaire entrepreneurs Ye Xiaoping and Cao Xiaochun in Hangzhou, starting as a clinical research organization serving China's nascent pharmaceutical industry. It grew into the largest CRO in China by headcount and trial volume before listing on Shenzhen's ChiNext board in 2012. A secondary Hong Kong IPO followed in 2020, raising roughly $1.4 billion that partially funded its investment platform expansion. The firm operates Hangzhou Tiger Equity Investment Partnership as a strategic investment vehicle that targets biotech, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies globally. Investment stages span early seed through pre-IPO, with a clear preference for businesses whose clinical trials can flow into Tigermed's service pipeline — creating both fee income and equity upside. Confirmed co-investors include Qiming Venture Partners, which backed Tigermed's own Series A and frequently co-deploys alongside the firm. Tigermed also co-runs the Pebble accelerator with Morningside and Hong Kong's Nan Fung Group, seeding preclinical-stage biotechs. The US presence spans 27 states through operational offices, and the investment mandate reaches North America, Asia, and Europe. Tigermed's scale comes from roughly 10,000 employees delivering clinical services, but its investment arm operates through a lean team integrated with corporate strategy. In May 2024, the firm disclosed continued expansion of its global trial-management footprint alongside portfolio activity through Hangzhou Tiger Equity. Two philanthropic foundations — the Clinical Research Promotion Non-profit Foundation and the Hangzhou Tigermed Charity Foundation — sit parallel to the commercial entity, chaired by firm principals but structurally separate from the investment vehicle. What differentiates Tigermed is its demand-side edge: the CRO business generates a continuous view into which drug candidates, platforms, and device makers are approaching regulatory milestones. That pipeline visibility is embedded directly into the investment-decision cycle, making the platform function less like a passive corporate venture arm and more like an integrated services-for-equity strategy. The dual-listed structure and co-accelerator model with Asia-Pacific real estate capital further isolates it from the standard biotech fund template.
General information
Firm type
Corporate Investor
Year founded
2004
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Asia
Country
China
City
Hangzhou
Corporate office
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Additional offices
United States
Principals
Ye Xiaoping
Chairman and Co-Founder
Cao Xiaochun
General Manager and Co-Founder
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
How does Tigermed's investment arm relate to its core CRO business?
Hangzhou Tiger Equity Investment Partnership functions as an integrated strategic investor, not a standalone fund. Portfolio companies frequently contract Tigermed's clinical trial services, giving the firm both fee revenue and equity exposure. This model reduces the investment group's reliance on external diligence by surfacing candidate companies through the operating business's client pipeline.
Who runs investment decisions at Tigermed?
Co-founders Ye Xiaoping (Chairman) and Cao Xiaochun (General Manager) oversee the investment strategy alongside corporate leadership. The investment team operates within the corporate structure rather than as an independent partnership, meaning ultimate decision authority rests with the founders and their senior strategy group.
Which geographies does Tigermed's investment arm target?
The mandate spans China, the United States, and Europe. The US footprint — operational offices across 27 states — provides a sourcing base for North American biotech and medical-device deals. The Pebble accelerator, co-run with Morningside and Nan Fung Group, adds early-stage access across Asia-Pacific and trans-Pacific markets.
Does Tigermed invest from its own balance sheet or manage outside capital?
Tigermed deploys corporate balance-sheet capital through Hangzhou Tiger Equity Investment Partnership. There is no disclosure of external limited partners in the investment vehicle, making it a proprietary corporate investing platform rather than a third-party fund manager.
What investment stages does Tigermed typically target?
The firm covers the full spectrum from seed and start-up through expansion, growth, PIPE, and pre-IPO rounds. The early-stage access is strengthened by the Pebble biotech accelerator, while later-stage deals often align with companies approaching regulatory filings — at which point Tigermed's CRO services become directly relevant.
How is Tigermed's investment activity separated from its public-company obligations?
The investment platform sits within the corporate group, which is dual-listed on Shenzhen's ChiNext board and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Portfolio holdings and deployment activities are subject to the disclosure requirements of both exchanges. The philanthropic foundations operate under separate governance with founder oversight but no commingling of assets.
Which firms co-invest alongside Tigermed?
Qiming Venture Partners is the most prominent recurring co-investor, dating back to Qiming's early Series A backing of Tigermed itself. The Pebble accelerator adds Morningside and Nan Fung Group as joint venture partners focused on preclinical-stage biotech companies.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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