Economic Observer reporter Feng Qingyan reports from Beijing Zhang Dalei has been very busy recently. On September 22, Beijing Eagle Eye Technology Development Co., Ltd. (“Eagle Eye Technology”), which he founded, went through a hearing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and was only one step away from the “first medical AI stock”. While traveling all over the world, a great deal of work awaits him to make a decision. Not long ago, Shukun Technology and Inference Technology also submitted prospectus. After several years of accumulation, the medical AI field ushered in a period of intensive IPOs.

Faced with the perception of outsiders that medical AI has ushered in a stage of fierce competition, “This is a racetrack that requires at least 50 years to run. My mentality is completely different from when I was on a video site,” Zhang Dalei told the Economic Observer. “This is probably related to the way I experienced so much turbulence before, and it is also related to my age of not being confused. My mentality has changed.”

After a few twists and turns, on October 15, the Economic Observer finally saw Zhang Dalei himself in the new Eagle Eye Science and Technology Office at the Beijing Polytechnic National Defense Science and Technology Park — with her sleek short hair, glasses, and a black jacket, which gave people a sense of low profile and easygoing. Due to sudden traffic restrictions on the road, Zhang Dalei felt very sorry for being half an hour late, and explained in detail to the reporter how he was late. This act made the reporter feel in subsequent interviews that this was Zhang Dalei.

“Everyone has the right to know their state of health. This is a basic right,” Zhang Dalei said. To this end, he has resolutely invested in starting a medical AI business, which has now been six years.

The origin

Although the medical AI field is very popular now, Zhang Dalei revealed that when they entered this track in 2015, they had almost no peers; many had only grown in recent years.

What exactly was the reason for Zhang Dalei, who worked for Microsoft, PPTV, Sina, etc., and was originally a programmer, to give up his well-paid executive position and choose what seemed like a thorny sheep gut at the time?

Zhang Dalei, a native of Gansu who was born in 1982, has had the heart of a “programmer” since childhood and taught himself how to code when he was in middle school. I originally wanted to choose mathematics at university, but without reversing the wishes of my father, who is a math teacher, I went to the Second Military Medical University to study medicine. After that, Zhang Dalei, who successfully graduated, resolutely plunged into the ocean of programming.

Until 2014, Zhang Dalei experienced a major change in his life. This changed Zhang Dalei's mind and planned to start a business in the medical AI industry, which had not yet emerged at the time.

“My family was misdiagnosed and experienced a sudden test of life and death at the time, which changed my understanding and perception of the meaning of life.” Zhang Dalei told the Economic Observer.

One day in the same year, Zhang Dalei stood on the 19th floor of the Ideal International Building on the edge of the Fourth Ring Road. At the time, it was where Sina's office was located. He remembers that day's weather was very good, and there were a lot of cars on the Fourth Ring Road, but he suddenly realized something very sad, “I didn't want to enjoy the great scenery downstairs; I saw a steady stream of traffic on the road. Just thinking, there's probably a person in every car. He has some kind of illness on his body, but he doesn't know. Maybe he passed away anytime, anywhere, and he didn't even have time to tell his family his bank card password, which is bound to bring extreme pain to the family.” Zhang Dalei said while recalling his thoughts at the time.

His medical background and career as a programmer all made Zhang Dalei finally choose to get out of his comfort zone and embark on a medical AI entrepreneurial journey.

Founded Eagle Eye Technology

“Being aware of one's own state of health is a basic right of every human being born,” Zhang Dalei said. But judging from his family's experiences and the experiences of those around him, “most people don't control their own health. “In this day and age, one has to make an appointment with a doctor one day and register an account,” Zhang Dalei said, and then find a bunch of medical machines to keep track of their health. “I think this is particularly backward and primitive.”

What is even more unacceptable to Zhang Dalei is that people don't understand their health condition, and even when they are taken to the hospital, they don't know exactly what is wrong with their health.

Zhang Dalei decided to build a basic service network that would let everyone know about their health status without missing a diagnosis or misdiagnosis. This network does not rely on any third party interest organization and is completely loyal to everyone. It is best for a person to be able to understand their own health status at any time throughout the life cycle from birth to death, and then help them make their own decisions. This is Zhang Dalei's original intention of naming Eagle Eye Technology “Airdoc”, aiming to make medical AI serve everyone's entire life cycle like fresh air.

“At the beginning, we thought a lot. We wanted everyone's diseases to be pre-diagnosed through our technology,” Zhang Dalei said. From when Eagle Eye Technology was first founded in 2015 to 2016, they were a process of subtraction and focus.

“After starting corporate operations, I cut out a lot of projects. Now I'm doing fewer, more and more, focusing on looking only at one person's vascular and neurological health,” Zhang Dalei told reporters.

After 2016, on the basis of focus, Eagle Eye Technology grew into a company with early detection, assisted diagnosis, and health risk assessment solutions based on artificial intelligence recognition of retinal images.

After focusing, Zhang Dalei was pleased that Eagle Eye Technology won the Wu Wenjun Artificial Intelligence Science and Technology Award in 2019. This award is full of money and is recognized as the highest award for artificial intelligence technology in China. In August 2020, Eagle Eye Technology's diabetic retinopathy under-eye imaging diagnostic software was approved and marketed by the National Drug Administration. It was the first such product to obtain a Class III medical device certificate from the National Drug Administration, and as a result, it was used in domestic hospitals to assist and mitigate doctors' medical diagnosis work.

According to Frost & Sullivan, Eagle Eye Technology is now a global leader and pioneer in retinal imaging artificial intelligence.

At least run50year

“I thought I could tell by running on the video site track for only five years; who knows if one run was 20 years, I'm still struggling.” One day three years ago, when Zhang Dalei and Gu Yongqiang, the former founder of Youku, were chatting in a restaurant, I couldn't help but be stunned when talking about the state of the video site track.

Zhang Dalei said that looking back now, during the video site era, people paid too much attention to the actions of others, but now with Eagle Eye Technology, he is more concerned about whether there are more breakthroughs in his products and technology. He doesn't think his competition is his peers, but himself. “In my opinion, being able to insulate and prevent burning in a cup is the most basic requirement, and now the vast majority of people don't meet this passing mark. There should be no formaldehyde in the decorated walls. This is only a 60 point requirement, but most of them cannot be met. It's not that there are too few smart people now, but too many; all I need to do is be down-to-earth and honest people”.

The video site racetrack has not been known for 20 years. Compared to the video site industry, medical AI is a long-distance running track that tests endurance.

It has been six years since its establishment. It has been favored by various types of capital during this period. According to the corporate credit information search platform, Eagle Eye Technology has completed 7 rounds of financing. Investors are mostly strategic shareholders, and there is no shortage of well-known companies such as Fosun, Sogou, Ping An, and CITIC.

Having recently passed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange hearing, Eagle Eye Technology will soon launch a stock offering. The company is about to go public; Zhang Dalei is really busy.

Faced with the reporter's question of whether the pressure will increase after listing, “In my opinion, the listing is just another round of financing. There won't be any changes in the company's strategic direction, and I have experienced many twists and turns myself. There aren't many concerns from the outside world. I just want to improve the product and experience to create more value for customers.” Zhang Dalei said.

Zhang Dalei revealed that the company currently has the largest number of customers at medical institutions. It has access to more than 400 grade hospitals and more than 140 medical examination centers. Township health service centers and community health service stations are also being actively expanded.

After Eagle Eye Technology's under-eye imaging diagnostic software for diabetic retinopathy was approved and marketed by the National Drug Administration last year, the company's revenue grew quite rapidly. In 2019, 2020, and the first half of 2021, the company's revenue was 3.415 million yuan, 476.72 million yuan, and 494.77 million yuan respectively. The revenue for the first half of 2021 has already exceeded the revenue for the full year of 2020.

As for the rapid growth in revenue, according to Zhang Dalei, the company is still in its infancy. Although it is growing fast, the real momentum is still lagging behind. Only after it actually reaches a certain size can it truly highlight the long-term value of the enterprise and the social significance of the establishment.

Currently, Eagle Eye Technology focuses on monitoring blood vessels and nerve problems through retinal images, and Zhang Dalei's dream of a basic service network for the entire life cycle of a person from life to death is burning. He believes this is a long-distance run that will take at least 50 years.