Waterdrop, a China-based healthcare insurance and crowdfunding platform backed by corporates Meituan Dianping and Tencent, has raised approximately $200m in funding, Bloomberg reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter .
The round valued the company at $2bn, and Sina reported that it was led by a large international insurance provider.
Also known as Shuidi, Waterdrop provides three services through Tencent’s messaging, mobile payment and social media app, WeChat: a healthcare insurance brokerage, a cancer-focused mutual aid offering and a healthcare crowdfunding service. It claims to have more than 250 million users.
The company became the focus of a scandal in December 2019 when undercover journalists for Pear Video found it was sending staff into hospitals to sign up patients in order to fill quotas, exaggerating patients’ personal stories and failing to check their financial details.
Founder Shen Peng was forced to issue an apology, suspend the staff in question and launch an investigation. However, Waterdrop appears to have recovered from this setback as it is said to have hired Bank of America and Goldman Sachs to explore an IPO.
Waterdrop raised $145m in a June 2019 series C round led by Boyu Capital that also featured internet group Tencent, Gaorong Capital and CICC Capital.
Tencent had previously led the company’s $74.3m series B round two months earlier, investing together with IDG Capital, Gaorong Capital, BlueRun Ventures, Sinovation Ventures, Yuri Milner and existing backer Wu Xiaoguang. Waterdrop also lists local services platform Meituan Dianping as a shareholder on its website.
