About Cenova
Cenova is a venture capital firm founded in 2010. It is primarily based out of Xuhui, China. As of May 2026, Cenova is an active investor, having invested in 75 companies, with 1 new investment in the last 12 months. It primarily invests in Series B round in China based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Life Sciences to HealthTech and Enterprise Applications. Most recently it participated in the $***** Series C round of Accropeutics Overall, Cenova portfolio has seen 1 unicorn, 5 IPOs and 3 acquisitions including key companies like Optomed, Impact Therapeutics and ASLAN Pharmaceuticals. A lot of funds co-invest with Cenova, with names like Orbimed sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. Cenova has team of 10 people including 4 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Count
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Series A, Series B & 3 more
Portfolio IPOs
Portfolio Acquisitions
Portfolio Unicorns
Portfolio Soonicorns
Deals in last 12 months
Cenova's List of Top Investments
Cenova has a portfolio of 75 companies, one of which is a Unicorn. Their most notable investments are in Umer and Yiyuan Pharmaceutical.Their portfolio spans across China, United States and Singapore. They have invested in Life Sciences, HealthTech, Enterprise Applications and 8 other sectors, across stages such as Series A, Series B and 3 more. Here is the list of top investments by Cenova:1. Accropeutics
Developer of drugs for inflammation, autoimmune diseases, and cancer. The pipeline includes AC-003 Receptor -interacting protein kinase1 for Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, Graft versus Host Disease, AC-101 for inflammatory bowel disease, AC-201, an allosteric TYK2/JAK1 inhibitor for psoriasis, and others.
Key facts about Accropeutics
- Founded Year: 2017
- Location: Suzhou (China)
- Stage: Series C
- Total Funding till date: $62M
- Employee Count: 3 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: TCG Crossover, Orbimed and 7 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series C, May 18, 2026, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
2. ENSEM
Developer of transformative therapies for the treatment of cancer. The company leverages the Kinetic Ensemble platform that integrates computational and AI deep learning methodologies to develop small molecule precision medicines for oncology indications.
Key facts about ENSEM
- Founded Year: 2021
- Location: Boston (United States)
- Stage: Series A
- Total Funding till date: $67M
- Employee Count: 19 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Notable Capital, Mitsui Global Investment and 3 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Apr 06, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
3. Optomed
Provider of handheld fundus cameras and software solutions for eye screening. The company offers handheld fundus cameras with integrated software and artificial intelligence with the aim to transform the diagnostic process of blinding eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and edema.
Key facts about Optomed
- Founded Year: 2004
- Location: Alpharetta (United States)
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $4.92M
- Employee Count: 102 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Robert Bosch Venture Capital, Tech Emerge and 6 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Grant (prize money), Jul 31, 2019, $*****
- Highlight: Public
Developer of small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The company's product line include Senaparib is a PARP inhibitor for ovarian cancer maintenance therapy and small cell lung cancer, meeting primary endpoints in the FLAMES study for superior efficacy and safety. Other assets include WEE1 inhibitor IMP7068, ATR inhibitor IMP9064, and PARP1-selective inhibitor IMP1734 (collaborating with Eikon Therapeutics), alongside additional DDR inhibitors.
Key facts about Impact Therapeutics
- Founded Year: 2009
- Location: Nanjing (China)
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $180M
- Employee Count: 5 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Decheng Capital, Exome Asset Management and 21 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series D, Nov 15, 2024, $*****
- Highlight: Public
Developer of a medical device for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension. The device PADN multipolar synchronous pulmonary artery radiofrequency ablation catheter transmits the high-frequency current for ablation of the pulmonary sympathetic nerve.
Key facts about Pulnovo Medical
- Founded Year: 2013
- Location: Wuxi (China)
- Stage: Series C
- Total Funding till date: $115M
- Employee Count: 51 - 200 as on Jul 01, 2024
- Investors: LAV Asset Management, Orbimed and 8 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series C, Mar 02, 2025, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Cenova's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Cenova has invested in 75 companies over the last 13 years, with an average of 3 new investments annually in the last 10 years. In 2025, it made 2 investments, while as of May 2026, it has made 1 investment in this year. Its most recent first time investment was in Accropeutics and most recent follow-on round was in Vivace Therapeutics.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2025 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2023 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
2022 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
2021 | 10 | 1 | 11 |
2020 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
2019 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2018 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2017 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Cenova's Investments by Stage
Cenova has made 11 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $26.6M, 11 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $20.2M, 6 investments in Series C stage with an average round size of $51.8M, 3 investments in Series D stage with an average round size of $39.8M and 2 investments in Seed stage.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Series A | 11 |
Series B | 11 |
Series C | 6 |
Series D | 3 |
Seed | 2 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Cenova's Investments by Sector
Cenova has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Life Sciences, Healthcare, HealthTech, Enterprise Applications and Artificial Intelligence - Industry Applications. Notably, it has invested in 45 Tech companies, 39 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 15 Consumer (B2C) companies and at least 12 companies focusing on Software.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Life Sciences | 16 |
Healthcare | 10 |
HealthTech | 6 |
Enterprise Applications | 2 |
Artificial Intelligence - Industry Applications | 1 |
Others | 5 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Cenova's Investments by Geography
Cenova has made most investments in China (27), followed by United States where it has made 5 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
China | 27 |
United States | 5 |
Singapore | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Cenova's recent investments
Cenova has made 1 investments in 2026 so far - Accropeutics.Here are the most recent investments by Cenova:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 18, 2026 | China | Series C | 9082 | [+4] | |
Mar 12, 2025 | United States | Series D | 9733 | ||
Jan 17, 2025 | China | Series D | 7552 | [+1] | |
Mar 01, 2023 | China | Seed | 9791 | ||
Mar 01, 2023 | China | Series B | 9725 |
Unicorns in Cenova's Portfolio
Cenova has 1 unicorn in its portfolio - LinkDoc. The most recent unicorn in their portfolio is LinkDoc which became a unicorn in 2018, 2 years after Cenova first invested in it.Here is a list of unicorns in Cenova's portfolio:
Tracxn Score | Company | Short Description | Founded year | Sector | Location | Company Stage | First Investment/ Acquisition Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
48 | Provider of the oncology-focused database | 2014 | Haidian | Series D | jjajosk |
IPOs and Publicly Listed companies in Cenova's Portfolio
5 of Cenova's portfolio companies have become public. Impact Therapeutics got listed on the Hong Kong Exchanges (HKG), in May 2026 at marketcap of $710M and Aidikang Medical Laboratory Center got listed on the Hong Kong Exchanges (HKG) at marketcap of $1.14B.Here are Cenova's portfolio companies that went public:
Company | IPO Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
May 13, 2026 | Jul 2014 | Series A | 1679 | |
Jun 30, 2023 | Jan 26, 2021 | Series C | 8811 | |
Jan 06, 2023 | - | - | 7006 | |
Dec 06, 2019 | Oct 10, 2013 | Series B | 4885 | |
Dec 05, 2019 | Dec 05, 2014 | Series A | 2805 |
Acquired companies in Cenova's Portfolio
3 companies from Cenova's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was AnHeart Therapeutics in Mar 2024 by Nuvation Bio for $*****.Here are Cenova's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mar 25, 2024 | Dec 14, 2021 | Series C | 5998 | |
Feb 01, 2021 | Feb 06, 2018 | Series B | 6585 | |
May 19, 2020 | Aug 2019 | Series B | 8470 |
Team profile of Cenova
Cenova has a team of 10 members including 4 Partners and 3 Principals located in China. Cenova's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Here is a list of all team members in Cenova:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | Shanghai | - | - | |
Partner | Hong Kong | - | - | |
Partner | Xuhui | - | - | |
Partner | Shanghai | - | - |
Co-investors of Cenova
Over the past 13 years, 159 investors have co-invested in Cenova's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before Cenova: Lilly Asia Ventures, 6 Dimensions Capital and 49 others have invested in rounds before Cenova. There are 2 companies where Lilly Asia Ventures has invested before Cenova and 2 companies where 6 Dimensions Capital has invested before Cenova.
- Top Co-investors of Cenova: 63 investors entered a company along with Cenova. These include investors like Orbimed (2 companies).
- Invested after Cenova: A total of 45 investors have invested in Cenova's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include EIC Fund (1 company), Europa (1 company) and Robert Bosch Venture Capital (1 company).
Recent News related to Cenova
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Vivace closes $35m in Series D for cancer drug developmentPharmaceutical Technology•Mar 13, 2025•Vivace Therapeutics, RA Capital Management, Canaan, Cenova
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Vivace Therapeutics secures $35M to advance its novel Hippo pathway cancer drug.PR Newswire•Mar 12, 2025•Vivace Therapeutics, Canaan, Cenova, RA Capital Management
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Weimai bags RMB200m in Series D funding to enhance tech-enabled, continuous healthcare servicesPR Newswire•Jan 07, 2025•Micro Pulse Value, CNCB Investment, Weimai, Weimai and 4 others
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Pulnovo Medical Inhales Tens of Millions Dollars Funding to Accelerate Global GrowthPR Newswire•Nov 07, 2022•Cenova, Pulnovo Medical, Yuanbio Venture Capital, Orbimed and 2 others
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Another synthetic biology financing was born: Huili Bio completed nearly 300 million yuan in Series A financingPEdaily•Jul 03, 2022•Jiangsu Huili Biotechnology, Legend Capital, Cenova, Yunqi Partners and 2 others
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