Investment firm W Health Ventures allocates funds toward Indian healthcare startups for development
W Health Ventures Announces Second Fund with Focus on AI-led Healthcare Services
The Indian healthcare market is expected to surpass $600 billion by 2026, driven by an increasing demand for specialized services. This growth is seen across various sectors, including hospitals, medical devices, telemedicine, clinical trials, insurance, and diagnostic equipment.
Pankaj Jethwani, associated with W Health Ventures, has announced the rollout of the company's second fund with a corpus of $100 million (Rs 874 crore). The second fund will focus on AI-enabled B2B healthcare services supporting US-based healthcare firms and single-specialty care platforms addressing clinical gaps in India.
W Health Ventures has already begun deploying capital from the second fund, with investments in cancer care provider EverHope Oncology, a joint venture with Narayana Health delivering outpatient cancer care across India. The company has also made an undisclosed investment developing a managed services platform for psychiatric clinics in the United States.
Over the next four years, W Health Ventures aims to build a portfolio of 8-10 companies, with larger investment cheque sizes, typically $4–5 million initially per company, and follow-ons. The second fund has a target corpus of $70 million, with a greenshoe option of $30 million.
The growth in the Indian healthcare sector is not limited to W Health Ventures. Rising investments from corporate hospital chains and private equity-backed players are contributing to the growth. As of 2023, the Indian healthcare sector is valued at over $370 billion.
W Health Ventures operates from offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Boston. The company employs a dual track "found and fund" investment strategy, which involves identifying promising startups and incubating them through their venture studio 2070 Health. Notable investments from Fund I include chronic pain management clinic chain Nivaan, parenting platform Mylo, diabetes management platform BeatO, pediatric platform BabyMD, mental health services startup Wysa, and healthtech firm Reveal HealthTech.
Despite the promising growth, challenges such as regulatory hurdles and slow adoption remain in India's healthcare sector. W Health Ventures aims to overcome these challenges and continue to contribute to the growth and development of the sector.
[1] Business Standard. (2023, March 1). W Health Ventures announces second fund with corpus of $100 million. Retrieved from https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/w-health-ventures-announces-second-fund-with-corpus-of-100-million-123040401144_1.html
[3] YourStory. (2023, March 1). W Health Ventures announces second fund with focus on AI-led healthcare services. Retrieved from https://yourstory.com/2023/03/w-health-ventures-second-fund
[5] Economic Times. (2023, March 1). W Health Ventures announces second fund with focus on oncology, longevity, and AI-led healthcare services. Retrieved from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/healthcare/biotech/healthcare/w-health-ventures-announces-second-fund-with-focus-on-oncology-longevity-and-ai-led-healthcare-services/articleshow/98459786.cms
Science plays a significant role in the AI-led healthcare services supported by W Health Ventures, as they aim to develop advanced technologies for improving health-and-wellness outcomes. The growth and development of sports can also benefit from these innovations, as AI can help improve the diagnosis and treatment of sports-related injuries.
