Chinese Startups Lure Venture Capitalists Betting on a Baby Boom
- Digital health startups fundraising up 200% in first half
- Maternity, pediatric apps draw interest after two-child policy
People pass a poster printed with faces of babies in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province of China. The Chinese government has said that allowing all families to have two children is likely to add three million newborns each year. Still, a baby boom isn’t guaranteed.
Photographer: VCG via Getty ImagesYang Dan, mother of a three-month old son in Beijing, remembers relying on an array of digital apps for tips throughout her pregnancy: What to eat, when to have a checkup and how to connect with other expectant mothers.
Venture capitalists are now betting that the Chinese Communist Party’s decision to repeal its decades-old one-child policy will create more demand for digital services like those used by Yang. The policy change announced last year has piqued investor interest and led to 10 fundraising rounds in the first half for startups in the maternity and pediatric market, according to VC Beat Research, which tracks internet health-related investment and fundraising.