Company overview
Hunan Vathin Medical Instrument Co., Ltd. (brand VATHiN) was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in the Jiuhua Economic and Technological Development Zone, Xiangtan, Hunan, China. The company develops, manufactures and sells single-use electronic endoscopes and minimally invasive specialty robotics, covering pulmonology, urology, ENT, gastroenterology, orthopaedics, veterinary practice and industrial inspection.
Published figures: more than 300 employees; a 16,000 m² first-phase automated production base with an annual capacity of 400,000 scopes; a 100-mu second-phase site under construction since 2024; 1,181 patent applications filed and 175 registration certificates obtained; sales in more than 160 countries and regions.
Milestones
- 2018 — Company founded; angel round closed, with a seed investment led by Horizon fund backed by Boston Scientific.
- 2019 — Class 100,000 cleanroom completed; entry into export markets and cooperation established with Olympus and Boston Scientific.
- 2020 — First product, a single-use bronchoscope, cleared by FDA and CE; certified as a National High-tech Enterprise.
- 2021 — Bronchoscope registered with NMPA; MDSAP certification in December; full acquisition of MGB, a long-established German rigid endoscope manufacturer; Series A closed.
- 2022 — Single-use ureteroscope, cystoscope and rhinolaryngoscope registered in China; listed in Hunan’s pre-IPO reserve pool for the STAR Market; Series A+ and Series B closed.
- 2023 — Expanded cooperation with Olympus and launched the single-use rhinolaryngoscope; strategic partnership signed with EZIS; named to the China Innovative Medical Device Top 100; recognised as a Hunan New R&D Institution and Hunan Enterprise Technology Centre.
- 2024 — Portfolio extended across the main clinical departments; 100-mu industrial base construction started; US transshipment centre established.
R&D and manufacturing
Vathin has built a full-chain endoscope technology platform covering modules and image processing, AI algorithms, snake-bone articulation, functional imaging and safety design. The patented riveted snake bone and one-piece composite insertion tube address the trade-off between bending durability and steering consistency in reusable scopes, while the self-locking lever and optical-electrical isolation designs build safety into the structure itself.
Manufacturing covers a machining centre, an automated riveted snake-bone line, physical and biochemical laboratories and a final assembly workshop, supported by a Class 100,000 cleanroom for sterile single-use devices. In January 2024 the in-house testing centre was accredited by SGS as a CTF laboratory.
Global footprint
The company operates a European R&D and sales centre in Berlin (established through the 2021 acquisition of MGB) and a Shanghai R&D and sales centre, with Vathin research institutes in Beijing, Shenzhen, Wuhan and Changsha.
In the United States, Vathin has a deep product-line partnership with Olympus: H-SteriScope launched in 2021 and E-SteriScope, a single-use rhinolaryngoscope, in 2023. Cumulative US sales of the pulmonary line have exceeded 100,000 scopes.
Quality and compliance
Vathin passed MDSAP certification in December 2021 and its production system meets the safety and quality standards of the regions it serves. The company undergoes more than 20 audits and reviews a year, including quarterly comprehensive system assessments by Olympus. Products are registered or cleared for each target market under NMPA, FDA and CE; certificate numbers and scopes are provided on request.