Ant Group takes 28% Boohee Health stake in AI push

Ant Group has completed a strategic investment in Boohee Health, becoming the health platform's largest external shareholder with a stake of more than 28%.

Boohee Health founder and Chief Executive Officer Ma Haihua remains the company's largest overall shareholder.

The investment deepens ties between Ant Group's AQ health app and Boohee Health, a Chinese platform focused on weight management, nutrition and chronic disease prevention. The companies will work together on weight management and other AI health services for everyday use.

For Ant Group, the deal adds a specialist consumer health business to an app that has been expanding beyond medical assistance. AQ already offers doctor recommendations, hospital appointment booking and online consultations, and is moving further into health and wellness management.

Boohee Health brings a large user base and nutrition database. It says it has served 200 million registered users, has 30 million annual active users and maintains a food database with more than 1.6 million entries.

Ant Group has been building its healthcare business for more than a decade. Its AQ app, launched in 2025, has grown to more than 100 million users and now handles more than 10 million health-related queries a day, according to the company.

Weight focus

The partnership will initially focus on weight management, which both companies describe as a high-frequency consumer health need. AQ users already use the app to log meals and calculate calories, and Boohee Health's dietary knowledge base is expected to strengthen those services.

AQ will use Boohee Health's expertise in behavioural intervention and nutrition to improve dietary tracking and weight management guidance. The companies also plan to explore scientific weight loss, health-related eCommerce, joint model training and broader ecosystem development.

The tie-up comes as AQ gives greater prominence to weight management in China. The app recently launched an initiative encouraging users collectively to lose 100 million jin, or 50 million kilograms, through what Ant Group describes as science-based, sustainable weight management supported by smart devices and behavioural incentives.

Healthcare push

The investment also reflects Ant Group's broader healthcare expansion as large technology groups in China seek more practical consumer applications for AI. Rather than focusing only on clinical access, AQ is being positioned as a tool for everyday health support and habit formation.

That shift places greater emphasis on repeat consumer engagement. Services such as food logging, calorie counting and lifestyle coaching are used more often than hospital bookings, giving digital health apps more regular contact with users.

Boohee Health has operated for nearly 20 years and focuses on behaviour-based health management. Its experience in nutritional intervention and chronic disease prevention complements AQ, which has scale in traffic and distribution through Ant Group's broader digital ecosystem.

The deal leaves Ma in control as the largest overall shareholder, suggesting continuity in Boohee Health's operations even as Ant Group takes a significant minority stake. Strategic investments of this kind often let technology groups add specialist services without fully absorbing a business.

No financial terms were disclosed. The companies described the transaction as a strategic investment rather than an outright acquisition.

In remarks released with the announcement, Ma outlined Boohee Health's view of the market. "Nearly two decades of practice have demonstrated that health management can be driven by professional knowledge, behavioral models, and digital capabilities," said Ma Haihua, Chief Executive Officer, Boohee Health.

He also addressed the fit between the two companies. "Both companies share a strong alignment in their vision for AI-driven health innovation," Ma said.

Ant Group also pointed to changing user behaviour around AI health services. "More users are now turning to AI for everyday health support, with many already using the AQ app to log meals and calculate calories," said Zhang Junjie, Vice President and Head of Health Business, Ant Group.

Zhang described the partnership as part of a broader expansion of Ant Group's health offering. "Weight management is only the starting point, and Ant Group aims to work with more professional partners to provide diversified and expert-level health services, helping users better understand, care for, and manage their health," he said.