ePlanet Ventures Invests in iKang
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REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ePlanet Ventures, the world's leading global Venture Capital firm headquartered in Silicon Valley, California, announced a Series E investment into iKang, a privately-held healthcare management services company in China. iKang uses a unique integrated online and offline model to provide a comprehensive suite of healthcare services, including health benefit, patient care and physical check-up, disease management, and third-party administration services. The company controls four premier brand names – iKang, Guobin, Barley & Jackson, and 37C – serving more than 1.5 million members.

Speaking on the occasion, Jerry Cho Managing Director of ePlanet Ventures, commented “China is experiencing increasing demand for high quality health services driven by increasing wealth and an aging population. We believe that iKang has the potential to leverage on its first mover's advantage and established brandname, to grow into a category-dominant leader.”

The proceeds of the financing will be used primarily to pursue additional growth opportunities, to leverage on China's burgeoning demand for healthcare services. “We are very pleased to invest in iKang, and are excited by the company's prospects,” said Asad Jamal, Chairman and CEO of ePlanet Ventures. “ePlanet has built up deep expertise in both the Life Sciences space as well as China, and we are proud to be able to meld sectoral and geographical knowledge, to enable this timely investment.”

The deal is syndicated with institutional investors Merrill Lynch, Shanghai Venture Capital Walden International, WI Harper, and Zero2IPO.

ABOUT EPLANET VENTURES
ePlanet Ventures (www.eplanetventures.com) is a leading global venture capital firm headquartered in San Francisco Bay Area, with international offices in London, New Delhi, Bangalore, Singapore, Shanghai, and Beijing. ePlanet Ventures has funded over 80 innovative high-growth companies world-wide, including landmark deals Baidu (NASDAQ listing August 2005, currently US$12B market cap), Skype (sold to eBay for US$3B in 2005), and Focus Media (NASDAQ listing 2005, currently US$6B cap). ePlanet has created over US$ 20 billion in aggregate shareholder value on its transactions. The firm has won the China Venture Capital Association Exit of the Year 2005 Award, and the Europe Venture Capital Association Deal of the Year 2006 Award, and has been profiled in FORBES Feb 2007 as 'Pioneer in Global Venture Capital'.

ABOUT IKANG
iKang is China's largest private and independent full-service healthcare management services company. With its nationwide network of affiliated hospitals and medical centers, iKang is able to provide a comprehensive range of services including individual health screenings, primary care, medical management, and health insurance coverage. In addition, iKang provides third
party administration (TPA) services for large corporations. Through its services, the company hopes to raise the standard of medical care and quality of life in China.
iKang was founded in 2003 by Mr. Lee Zhang, who is a serial entrepreneur and a graduate from Harvard University Division of Medical Science. Mr. Zhang's vision was to integrate the information technology with healthcare service and use an integrated approach to improve the quality of healthcare service in China.

Currently, iKang has subsidiaries in major cities throughout the country. The company has also established medical centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen and built partnership with several hundred hospitals to provide nationwide coverage.