Remarkable Youth: Venture Capital Record | "Steel Lady" Creates Her Own "Jianghu" in the Reagent Industry

Everyone says that starting a business is difficult, but for women, it is even more challenging, especially in the technology field. In 2013, He Xiuqin, who graduated with a master's degree in pharmacology from China Pharmaceutical University, never thought about starting a business, let alone that she would create a career in the biopharmaceutical field. "After 9 years of entrepreneurial experience, I deeply feel the helplessness and unwillingness of our country due to the late start in biopharmaceuticals and the monopoly of many products by the United States. With the investment support from Nanjing Innovation Investment Group, our company is vigorously transforming towards independent product research and development, contributing to the localization of reagents. Our initial goal is to become the 'JD' in the reagent consumables field, and the ultimate goal is to be the Chinese version of 'Thermo', standardizing and regulating basic scientific research products in China!" said He Xiuqin, founder of Nanjing Basfei Biotechnology Co., Ltd.

　　Career setbacks opened a window for entrepreneurship.

Just like other graduates, He Xiuqin joined the army of job seekers and worked as a product specialist in the Shanghai marketing department of Yangtze River Pharmaceutical. However, the job content and environment were contrary to her original intentions, and she resigned after half a month. After searching for nearly two months without finding a suitable job, He Xiuqin began to doubt herself: Am I going to be completely unemployed? Should I start a business instead of working? At this time, a phone call from a college classmate enlightened her, "My classmate said that many students from Xiamen University are starting businesses, so why can't you?"

He Xiuqin recalled that during her graduate studies, most of the equipment and reagents used in experiments were imported, and at that time, China's reagent industry was almost monopolized by foreign companies. Since this was a field she was familiar with and good at, she decided to start from this industry and create a domestic brand. Hearing that Xiamen had good entrepreneurial policies and an excellent entrepreneurial atmosphere, He Xiuqin took the earliest train the next day, a 26.5-hour journey on a green train, to Xiamen, thus starting her "dream journey of entrepreneurship."

Main business of the company.

It is reported that over 60% of the laboratory equipment and reagents in China are foreign brands. In recent years, the country's investment in scientific research has exceeded 2 trillion yuan, with more than 50% used for the procurement of experimental equipment and reagents in the life sciences research field; at the same time, the investment in reagent consumables has exceeded 40 billion yuan. However, for start-up companies, if they choose the experimental equipment industry, it requires a large capital investment because the equipment is a heavy asset, with high prices and high thresholds; if they choose experimental consumables, although the unit price is low, the profit is also low, and the technical content is not high, making it difficult to form a competitive advantage.

　　With a dream of domestic products, determined to develop independently.

After research, He Xiuqin found that reagents are essential items in laboratories, and among many scientific research testing reagents, antibodies are the most expensive. Among them, β-actin antibody, β-tubulin antibody, and GAPDH antibody are the three most commonly used reference antibodies, with high usage and large quantities, generally selling for two to three thousand yuan for 100mg or 100ul, accounting for about 30% of the reagent market. Most importantly, these antibodies can be developed using university laboratories, which can save a significant portion of research and development costs, making it the best main direction for start-up companies.

At first, no one believed in their independently developed antibodies because the current market is dominated by mature foreign products, and it is difficult for new domestic products to open up the market. However, He Xiuqin did not get discouraged. With the research results accumulated during her graduate studies and the guidance of experts in the field of antibody research, the three antibody products developed by their team quickly entered the market, receiving orders not only from universities but also from hospitals and research institutes. In just over half a year, their products gained some fame in the industry.

In July 2014, exactly one year after He Xiuqin started her business in Xiamen, she made an important decision: to return to Nanjing to continue her entrepreneurial journey. Because Nanjing, compared to Xiamen, is a larger market, with many universities, research institutions, and hospitals gathered here. As a graduate of China Pharmaceutical University, she has many resources from teachers and students, which can be said to be "the right time, the right place, and the right people," making it easier to expand the market.

Company warehouse and some products.

　　The harder you work, the luckier you get; Nanjing is a blessed place for entrepreneurship.

At the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey in Xiamen, He Xiuqin had to seek help from her parents due to a lack of start-up funds. "My parents initially did not support me, thinking that a girl should find a stable job. After several rounds of persuasion, they agreed to give me 50,000 yuan in start-up funds but required that I must achieve some results within a year, or else I would have to go back to work in my hometown of Yancheng." In the early stages of entrepreneurship, various expenses quickly depleted the 50,000 yuan, leaving only 10.2 yuan, making even meals a challenge. "I will never forget this in my life, eating plain porridge and pickles for 5 days," He Xiuqin recalled.

In 2014, when she returned to Nanjing to start her business, He Xiuqin rented an 80-square-meter apartment to save on rent, which was convenient for eating, living, and working, and could also serve as a warehouse. Now, the company is located in the Life Science Innovation Park in the Xixia District of Nanjing, with not only a 300-square-meter office space but also a 300-square-meter research and production center and a 1,000-square-meter storage base. Currently, the company has settled in platforms of universities such as Nanjing University, Nanjing Medical University, and China Pharmaceutical University, as well as three hospitals including Jiangsu Provincial People's Hospital and Jiangsu Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, covering fields such as molecular biology, cell biology, immunology, and biomedicine, with customers across 11 provinces including Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, and Fujian.

Some of the company's clients.

In 2016, at an entrepreneurial event organized by the Nanjing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, He Xiuqin first came into contact with the youth entrepreneurship investment subsidy policy. Just in time for the promotion of the fourth "Win in Nanjing" entrepreneurship competition, He Xiuqin resolutely signed up and won the "Special Prize" of the competition, receiving a 250,000 yuan equity investment from Nanjing Innovation Investment Group. "At that time, the company was relatively small, and the investment from Nanjing Innovation Investment Group greatly alleviated the company's cash flow. This money was like a stream of fresh water, instantly activating the entire team, giving us the confidence and courage to carry out promotional activities and expand the market. Later, the investment manager from Nanjing Innovation Investment Group even brought staff from the municipal human resources bureau and banks to visit our company several times, asking about the company's development status, what difficulties we faced, what help we needed, and helped connect us with loan banks to solve our funding problems again." At this moment, He Xiuqin could no longer suppress her gratitude.

　　With a steel-like will, bravely moving forward.

For He Xiuqin, her identity is not just an entrepreneur or a company owner; she is also a wife and a mother. "Our boss is simply a 'tough woman.' A pregnant woman who should be at home waiting to give birth is out running after clients every day, and on the day of production, she still drives to deliver goods as usual. I really admire her; she is truly a strong woman," her colleague excitedly said.

He Xiuqin said with a wry smile, "It is precisely because of the deep understanding of the difficulties of entrepreneurship and the realization that every customer is hard-won that we cannot be slack. In the first two years after the establishment of the Nanjing company, 90% of the market was developed by me. Due to sudden production, many things were not handed over well, resulting in the loss of many customers. Not long after, the company had almost no orders, and I was particularly anxious. So on the first day after my maternity leave, I hurried to the company to work overtime to sort out the business, calling each customer one by one to maintain relationships." Now the team has expanded from a solo effort to a "Iron Lady Corps" of more than 10 people. Although all the employees are women, they are strong in execution and can endure hardships, delivering and distributing goods regardless of the weather.

Office scene of some employees in the company

"With the investment from the Nanjing Innovation Investment Group, our company has significantly improved its market development and industry influence. We have not only successfully entered procurement platforms such as Nanjing University, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Jiangsu Provincial People's Hospital, but also attracted many new customers who came seeking us. We are very grateful for the help from the Nanjing Innovation Investment Group." In the past five years, He Xiuqin has led the team to focus mainly on market expansion, but now the product homogeneity in the market is very serious. To remain invincible, it is necessary to form its own core competitiveness—sales channels and advanced technology. Currently, the company is on one hand gathering channel resources, and on the other hand recruiting talents with technology and patents, planning to establish a biological research institute, and creating a "JD" in the field of reagent consumables; at the same time, the team is also doing its best to develop its own products, striving tirelessly to achieve the ultimate goal of a Chinese version of "thermo."

Recalling her nine years of entrepreneurial experience, He Xiuqin said that in order to support product research and development investment and to help the company survive through difficulties, she and her team had also run tutoring classes and engaged in vegetable wholesale business. "The three entrepreneurial projects of tutoring classes, vegetable wholesale, and biological reagents all did well, but after going through them, I truly understood the principle of 'a gentleman knows what to do and what not to do.' It is essential to focus one's energy on the industry one is best at!"