According to Sing Tao Global Network, two young PhD entrepreneurs in their 30s successfully led their company to ring the bell at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after 8 years of startup.
On January 8, EDGE MEDICAL-B (2675) officially listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with an issue price of HKD 43.24 per share, raising a net amount of approximately RMB 1.117 billion.
On the first trading day, EDGE MEDICAL-B continued the trend of a significant rise in the dark market, opening high and rising further, with an intraday increase of over 35%, reaching a peak price of HKD 60 per share. As of the close on January 8, EDGE MEDICAL-B rose by 30.90%, closing at HKD 56.60 per share, with a market capitalization of HKD 18.316 billion.
The founders of EDGE MEDICAL-B are PhDs from top universities in the United States, and the company is the first in China and the second globally to obtain registration approval for three types of surgical robots. Since initiating its listing in Hong Kong, it has attracted significant attention from various sectors.
However, the surgical robot market, valued in the hundreds of billions, is already crowded with competitors. Can EDGE MEDICAL-B, which successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after its third IPO, carve out a path for survival amidst the prevailing smoke?
<h2>Wealthy Investors Invest Millions</h2>
Sing Tao has learned that before its IPO in Hong Kong, EDGE MEDICAL-B completed seven rounds of equity financing, raising a total of over RMB 2 billion. Investors include well-known institutions such as Legend Holdings, Temasek, and Sequoia Capital, as well as national teams like the social security fund and the mixed ownership reform fund of Chinese state-owned enterprises. The last round of valuation was approximately USD 1.507 billion, representing a growth of about 246 times compared to the post-investment valuation of the first round.
In this Hong Kong listing, EDGE MEDICAL-B globally offered 27.7222 million H shares, with an oversubscription of 4.1583 million shares, at an offer price of HKD 43.24 per share, raising a net amount of approximately HKD 1.117 billion. The final public offering in Hong Kong was oversubscribed by 1,091.94 times, while the international offering was oversubscribed by 25.18 times.
The most discussed and focused aspect during the offering phase was the luxurious lineup of cornerstone investors behind EDGE MEDICAL-B, with various wealthy investors acquiring nearly half of the offered shares.
EDGE MEDICAL-B's 13 cornerstone investors include Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), UBS Asset Management, OrbiMed, Tencent, Huaxia Fund, LYFE, and Greater Bay Area Common Home Investment, collectively investing approximately RMB 584 million, accounting for 48.7% of the global offering.
Among them, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and has been quite active in the Chinese market in recent years, continuously increasing its investment. As of the first quarter of 2025, this wealthy fund has become one of the top ten circulating shareholders in 27 A-share companies, with a cumulative holding value exceeding RMB 10.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 74%.
The healthcare sector is one of the key areas heavily invested by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. Previously, this fund not only invested hundreds of billions to establish a fund specifically targeting the Chinese healthcare industry but also prominently became a shareholder in many medical and pharmaceutical companies, such as the leading innovative drug company BeiGene, the largest pharmaceutical glass company in China, Shandong Pharmaceutical Glass, and the largest minimally invasive surgical instrument supplier in China, Kangji Medical
During the IPO period of EDGE MEDICAL from December 30, 2025, to January 5, 2026, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority invested $15 million to acquire 2.699 million shares in the public offering, accounting for 0.7% of its issued capital, making it the largest cornerstone investor.
As of the close on January 8, with EDGE MEDICAL priced at HKD 56.60 per share, the shares held by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority had already gained a floating profit of HKD 36.0586 million on the first day of listing.
<h2>20 Robots Support Annual Revenue of 160 Million</h2>
EDGE MEDICAL's founders, Wang Jianchen and Gao Yuanqian, both hold PhDs in Mechanical Engineering from Tianjin University. The couple, born in the 1980s, returned to Shenzhen in 2017 to start a technology venture after studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University on government scholarships.
As a medical technology company focused on the design, development, and manufacturing of high-end surgical robots, EDGE MEDICAL has become one of the leading surgical robot companies in China within just eight years of its establishment.
EDGE MEDICAL had previously submitted IPO applications twice, in July 2022 and January 2023, but both attempts failed to progress smoothly to the next stage. As a result, this IPO application has prompted the Securities Regulatory Commission to inquire about the reasons for the failure of the July 2022 listing and to request additional explanations regarding the compliance of equity incentives and other issues.
Regarding the reasons for the previous two IPO failures, Sing Tao has contacted relevant personnel from the company, but they only stated that they were not in a position to respond.
During the process of two failed listings in Hong Kong, EDGE MEDICAL has also accelerated the advancement of product research and development and market launch. In December 2022, November 2023, and January 2025, the company's multi-port laparoscopic surgical robot, single-port laparoscopic surgical robot, and bronchoscope robot received registration approval from the Chinese National Medical Products Administration, making it the first company in China and the second globally to obtain registration approval for three types of surgical robots simultaneously.
Among them, the multi-port laparoscopic surgical robot and single-port laparoscopic surgical robot are EDGE MEDICAL's core products, which achieved commercialization in December 2022 and December 2024, respectively. Therefore, it was not until 2023 that the company truly generated revenue, and as product sales gradually increased, revenue experienced exponential growth, although it has not yet achieved breakeven.
From 2023 to the first half of 2025, EDGE MEDICAL's total revenue was RMB 48 million, RMB 160 million, and RMB 149 million, with gross profit margins of 59.3%, 61.3%, and 62.8%, respectively. During the same period, research and development expenses reached RMB 171 million, RMB 226 million, and RMB 97 million, with the R&amp;D investment in core products accounting for 71.1%, 76.0%, and 85.7% of total R&amp;D expenditure, respectively.
Based on this calculation, EDGE MEDICAL's cumulative revenue over two and a half years is approximately RMB 357 million, while cumulative R&amp;D investment is about RMB 494 million.
Due to revenue not yet covering R&amp;D expenses and other expenditures, and with the commercialization of products beginning to incur corresponding sales and marketing expenses, EDGE MEDICAL is currently still operating at a loss. However, net profit losses have significantly narrowed, amounting to RMB -213 million, RMB -219 million, and RMB -89 million from 2023 to the first half of 2025
It is worth mentioning that in 2024, EDGE MEDICAL sold 20 units of its porous laparoscopic surgical robots domestically, bringing nearly 150 million yuan in revenue. According to contract sales statistics, 31 units of this product had been sold in the first half of 2025.
Amid the overseas expansion trend, EDGE MEDICAL also began to explore international markets in 2025, successfully obtaining registration approval in the European Union in March of the same year, and continuing to advance in other countries such as Japan, South Korea, the Middle East, and South America. As of the first half of 2025, the company had signed global sales agreements for 61 units of its core products.
In the first half of 2025, EDGE MEDICAL's overseas market revenue reached approximately 61 million yuan, accounting for 40% of the total revenue during the same period.
As of December 21, 2025, the number of robot-assisted clinical surgeries completed using EDGE MEDICAL's porous laparoscopic surgical robots and single-port laparoscopic surgical robots exceeded 12,000 and 2,000 cases, respectively.
<h2>Numerous Challenges</h2>
Currently, surgical robots represent a potential market on a global scale.
According to Frost &amp; Sullivan data, the global market size for surgical robots reached 21.2 billion USD in 2024 and is expected to reach 84.2 billion USD by 2033. Focusing on the Chinese market, the scale is nearly 7.2 billion yuan in 2024, and with the growing clinical demand for robot-assisted surgeries and favorable policy support, it is expected to rapidly increase to 102 billion yuan by 2033.
At present, surgical robots in China are mainly concentrated in the fields of laparoscopic surgical robots, joint surgical robots, and spinal surgical robots, among which laparoscopic surgical robots are considered to have the greatest commercial value, occupying more than 60% of the market share.
However, the broad development prospects are inevitably accompanied by fierce market competition. Currently, in the field of porous laparoscopic surgical robots alone, there are already 13 products approved domestically, including 11 domestic and 2 imported products, among which the da Vinci system from Intuitive Surgical has been in a monopolistic position in both domestic and global markets for many years.
As a latecomer, EDGE MEDICAL adopted a low-price strategy to seize domestic market share at the beginning of its product commercialization. While the price of Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci system is around 20 million yuan per unit, EDGE MEDICAL's porous laparoscopic surgical robot is priced at about 15 million yuan, giving it a certain price advantage.
However, price is clearly the weakest competitive means among various barriers. Among domestic competitors, the price of MicroPort's laparoscopic surgical robot is also similar to that of EDGE MEDICAL, while another domestic company, Sihong Rui, has priced its Kando robot in the range of 5.4 million to 9.9 million yuan.
Industry analysis indicates that the mechanical arm precision and anti-shake algorithm of EDGE MEDICAL's porous laparoscopic surgical robot have actually approached the level of the da Vinci system. However, the latter has occupied a large market share for many years and is familiar to most surgeons. For EDGE MEDICAL to win the market, it needs to strengthen its product training.
EDGE MEDICAL also stated in its prospectus that it began collaborating with top-tier hospitals in 2021 to establish a nationwide training center network. As of August 2025, the company had established 9 training centers in major cities across the country, with plans to build about 20 regional training centers globally in the future
This layout is undoubtedly preparing for further competition in both domestic and overseas markets.
In addition, the construction of the surgical robot industry chain is also considered one of the major challenges that EDGE MEDICAL will face as its products gradually enter the commercialization and scaling phase.
Compared to companies like MicroPort Robotics and Weigao Orthopedic Robotics that have parent companies backing them, EDGE MEDICAL, which operates independently, is undoubtedly at a disadvantage in terms of industry chain collaboration and production capacity construction.
According to Sing Tao, since its establishment in 2017, EDGE MEDICAL has simultaneously built a production base in Shenzhen. In recent years, while advancing its IPO, it has also been focusing on enhancing its productivity. On December 12, 2025, the company's 100th surgical robot will roll off the production line at its Shenzhen base.
In the fundraising use disclosed in the prospectus, EDGE MEDICAL stated that about 40% of the funds will be used for the research and development of core products, 20% for the commercialization of core products, and another 10% for expanding production capacity, with 10% allocated for potential strategic acquisitions, investments, or collaborations.
Sing Tao reporter Huang Dongyan, Guangzhou report

02675

EDGE MEDICAL successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on January 8, with an issue price of HKD 43.24 per share, raising a net amount of approximately HKD 1.117 billion. On the first day of trading, the stock price reached a high of HKD 60, closing up 30.90%. The company was founded by two young PhDs and is the second company in the world to obtain registration approval for Class III surgical robots. Prior to this IPO, EDGE MEDICAL completed 7 rounds of equity financing, raising a total of over HKD 2 billion, with a strong lineup of cornerstone investors

EDGE MEDICAL successfully listed after three attempts, both founders are young PhDs