METiS TechBio, the first publicly listed AI-powered drug delivery company in the world, owes its success to the Chinese mainland's unrelenting support for Taiwan entrepreneurs operating in the mainland, said the CEO of the groundbreaking startup.
When Taiwan youth Lai Tsai-ta was 20 in 2009, he set a goal to become the founder of a startup by the age of 35. This year, that wish came true in a way he could scarcely have imagined -- his company, METiS TechBio, rang the opening bell at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) on May 13.
Lai's path to this milestone was anything but ordinary. A chemical engineering graduate of Taiwan University, he went on to earn a PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. And in 2017, he sketched out his business plan on a napkin in a local cafe in Boston. Just six years later, he stood at the helm of a Beijing-based unicorn ringing the bell at the HKEX -- a journey that reflects not only his own vision and determination, but also the backing the Chinese mainland gives to young entrepreneurs from Taiwan.
Lai founded METiS TechBio after winning second prize at the Maker China (Hangzhou) Competition, a premium global talent tournament, with over 10 million yuan (about 1.5 million U.S. dollars) in prize money in 2019.
For Lai, who has long focused on the interdisciplinary fields of materials, biomedicine and information science, Beijing possesses the world's most complete data chain, the most top-tier interdisciplinary talent, and the strongest computing power in the biological sciences -- core resources for AI biopharmaceuticals.
"My partner Dr. Wang and I came here with nothing but passion and a very preliminary idea. We didn't even have a complete business plan," Lai said, recalling the start of his entrepreneurial journey in the Chinese capital.
Lai's team established a new research and development center in Beijing's Zhongguancun. This major technology and innovation hub boasts top talent from such prestigious Chinese universities and research institutes as Peking University, Tsinghua University, and the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, and possesses a complete pharmaceutical venture capital system and industry guidance funds.
Within just a few months of moving in, the local government helped the startup connect with international pharmaceutical companies, vaccine companies, and clinical hospitals, providing full-chain support for technological breakthroughs.
"Even before we moved in, the government provided a series of policies to support small startups, offering us apartments, housing subsidies, and R and D subsidies. This allowed us to focus on our own business," said Wang Wenshou, co-founder of METiS TechBio.
"The people in charge of the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission came to our company and heard what we had to say for an entire afternoon. The exchange went on for a very long time and was highly in-depth. They also connected us with more government resources and more partners. Many people here were like-minded scientists who deeply understood the industry and strongly supported it. They all talked about the most cutting-edge scientific research and how to help us solve problems and truly pursue industrial implementation," Lai said.
"Beijing has so many universities, research institutes and high-caliber returnees from overseas. This provided us with a continuous supply of talent," Wang said.
The entrepreneurial path was far from smooth. From 2022 to 2024, Lai and his team used trial-and-error to comb through combinations of materials and formulations. Thanks to the team's solid technical foundation, they persevered over every obstacle. Meanwhile, the support from various Chinese government departments enabled his team to focus all their energy on technological research and development.
Relying on the mainland's innovation ecosystem and sustained industrial support, METiS TechBio continuously iterated its technological roadmap. Today, its AI nano drug delivery platform NanoForge can precisely deliver drugs to multiple organs, like building a dedicated "drug rocket" inside the human body.
On May 13, METiS TechBio debuted on HKEX, becoming the first publicly listed AI-driven drug discovery and nanomaterial delivery company globally, or what Lai called the first "AI drug delivery stock" in the world. From 2020 to 2026, his company became the unicorn that completed the IPO milestone in the shortest time in China's AI pharmaceutical field.
"Even with government support, achieving a listing in just six years is truly not easy," said Li Haiyan, vice president of METiS TechBio.
"In just six short years, we completed the journey from zero to becoming Beijing's 'first AI pharmaceutical stock,'" Lai echoed.
In recent years, the mainland has rolled out increasingly greater support for Taiwan-funded enterprises in areas such as taxation, land use, and financing. As a result, a growing number of young people from Taiwan have been moving into frontier fields like AI. Lai's story is part of this broader trend in which a rising generation of Taiwan youths is building their entrepreneurial dreams on the mainland.
On June 13, as a representative of young Taiwan entrepreneurs settled on the mainland, Lai was invited to attend the 18th Straits Forum in east China's Fujian Province.
When delivering a speech at the event, Lai summarized his seven years of entrepreneurial journey, calling the mainland "the best soil" for his innovation and entrepreneurship.
Today, Lai travels to Boston every year to share his own stories with overseas Taiwan students there, using his own experience to break down information barriers and letting them better understand the Chinese mainland.
"I've always told many of my friends from Taiwan: 'Seeing is believing.' You just need to go and take a look there, chat with the people, and once you are there, you may discover opportunities and decide to stay," Lai said.
World's first listed AI drug delivery startup highlights Taiwan youth's success story in Chinese mainland
