AME Publishing Company (“AME”) has completed Series A funding of 4 million USD, led by Tianli Medical Group Limited, a fully-owned subsidiary of Tianli Holdings Group Limited (HK Stock Code: 117). This is the first round of financing for AME after the angel investment from DXY.cn in 2011.
Founded in 2009, AME Publishing Company has offices in Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Changsha, Nanjing and Shanghai. AME is an acronym for “Academic Made Easy/Excellent/Enthusiastic.” It goes with a Chinese translation ‘Yuqiongqianlimu, Kuailegaoxueshu,’ adapted from a poetry of the Tang Dynasty, which means conducting academic researches with fun and joy.
Up to now, AME has published 24 journals, with 2 journals (Journal of Thoracic Disease and Translational Cancer Research) indexed by Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and 15 journals (e.g. Annals of Translational Medicine) indexed by PubMed. AME has also published 10 books in English, 15 books in Chinese and 60 e-books, categorized into four series - Medical Monograph, Medical Review (Key opinion of medical experts), Book of Excellence worldwide and Interview with experts. In addition, AME has held more than 100 conferences in a variety of forms.
To facilitate the connection between reviewers and Chinese journals, AME has elaborately developed an online system named ‘Renlingxitong’ (AME system, in English). Manuscripts will be reviewed as they are uploaded to the system and any certified reviewer (doctors) can review the manuscripts of his/her interest. Once a review is completed, the reviewer will be rewarded with a certain number of e-tokens, which can used to purchase books and journals in the system. Existing partners of the AME system include Journal of Clinical and Pathological Research, Chinese Journal of General Surgery, Chinese Journal of Clinical Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Waikexuebao.
“It takes us about 1 year to develop the system. The idea is close to ‘Uber in academic arena’. We provide a platform to match the need between journal editors and reviewers. Besides, we can complete recruitment of qualified translators for a book with high efficiency on the system. Generally, translation of articles is completed by registered users on a pro bono basis within 48 hours after the release of a book catalogue,” Mr. Daoyuan Wang, Founder and CEO of AME, introduced, ‘’in the future, AME system will be available for more Chinese journals. We will continue to upgrade and tailor the system to serve the English journals as well.”
“DXY.cn is the largest connector of medical fields and provider of digital service. For the past 16 years since it was born, DXY.cn has built the largest medical online forum, created a series of mobile products, and independently funded its first clinic. By providing professional content with authority, collecting comprehensive data, delivering standardized and high-quality medical service, DXY.cn is able to link hospital, doctors, patients, pharmaceutical companies and health insurance, covering thousands of million users. DXY.cn has 5 million professional users, among whom 2 million are doctors and about 1.37 million are with certified accounts.” Mr. Tiantian Li, Founder and CEO of DXY.cn mentioned, “as an investor of AME, DXY.cn will support the development of AME with its advantaged resources and further the collaboration with AME. We will together launch more academic products to help researchers and clinicians.”
Tianli Holdings Group Limited is listed on the main board in Hong Kong. Its main businesses include investment management and financial services, electronic manufacturing and international trading. It has a positive outlook on the medical industry and believes in AME’s strategies and its team management’s capabilities. Tianli Holdings Group Limited will exert its experiences and resources in the finance industry to facilitate the development of AME.
Going forward, with the new funding, AME will continue its efforts in the publications of medical journals and books and make full use of Internet to promote the medical achievements, with a view to build a broader connection between domestic and overseas doctors and medical device companies, and the connection between doctors and patients.