W Health Ventures to take bigger, bolder bets in healthcare: Pankaj Jethwani
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MUMBAI : Early-stage healthcare-focused venture capital firm W Health Ventures is looking for bolder bets with its second fund, building companies from the ground up in areas like oncology, longevity, and chronic pain management, managing partner Pankaj Jethwani told Mint in an interview. The firm on Thursday announced the initial close of its Fund II at ₹550 crore, aiming for ₹630 crore.
The fund is about 87% subscribed, and the firm hopes to announce the final close shortly, Jethwani said. W Health Ventures has already been deploying capital from its second fund, with its first company, Everhope Oncology, launched in March. Everhope was launched in partnership with the hospital chain Narayana Health to reimagine cancer care in India.
“The patient experience in oncology is the same as though it was 20 years ago in India," said Jethwani, explaining that quality cancer care is still concentrated in specific centres of excellence and private spaces which are not accessible to most patients. “Most Indian patients with cancer are getting fairly dated treatment. What this platform allows us to do is to work with leading oncosurgeons and medical oncologists and the like to not only build high-quality centres and fill them up with patients, but provide an extremely high-quality patient experience," he said.
Everhope is leveraging AI to serve as a companion for cancer patients and aid doctors on their individual journeys, said Jethwani, adding that the system needs a ‘shake-up’. They are building greenfield and brownfield centres starting with Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Delhi for Everhope and aim to reach 30,000 cancer patients this year. A similar shake-up is required in several other areas in
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