W Health Ventures closes second fund at Rs 700 crore, eyes 8

W Health Ventures closes second fund at Rs 700 crore, eyes 8-10 healthcare companies

W Health Ventures has closed its second fund at Rs 700 crore, exceeding its initial target of Rs 630 crore, as the healthcare-focused venture capital firm looks to build a new set of companies in India and the US-India corridor.

The fund plans to build 8-10 companies over the next four years, with the firm following a company-creation model rather than backing only existing startups.

W Health Ventures said its in-house team of physicians, operators and technologists identifies gaps in healthcare delivery and spends 12-18 months testing and validating an opportunity before bringing in a founding team to build the company.

Under the model, W Health Ventures typically invests Rs 30-50 crore in each company and aims to build two to three new businesses every year.

The firm said the approach is designed for healthcare segments where conventional startup models may not work because of complex clinical, regulatory and operational requirements.

“India is at an inflection point in healthcare as the rising demand and constrained supply create a structural mismatch,” W Health Ventures managing partner Dr Pankaj Jethwani said.

“What keeps most people away isn't the opportunity, it's how hard healthcare is to build in. We think that is precisely where the value is.”

The firm's second fund has already produced two companies — Everhope Oncology and Everbright Health.

Everhope Oncology, built in partnership with Narayana Health, is focused on coordinated, patient-centred oncology care. Everbright Health is developing advanced interventions for treatment-resistant depression in the US.

W Health Ventures said both companies scaled within months of their launches.

The second fund will continue to pursue opportunities in India and the US-India corridor.

Jethwani said the firm does not follow a conventional Silicon Valley startup-building playbook, instead focusing on areas where healthcare delivery has significant structural gaps.

“We go to the parts of the healthcare system where the structural mismatch is the highest, and we stay with that problem for a year, sometimes longer, chipping away at it before we build anything,” he said.

W Health Ventures said its portfolio companies have so far reached 25 million patients.

Founded in 2020, the firm has offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Boston, US. Its portfolio includes Elevate Now, Nivaan, Hoola Health, formerly BabyMD, and Everhope Oncology.

The firm described the Rs 700-crore fundraise as a milestone, given the participation of several limited partners from the healthcare ecosystem.

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