Eight Roads, a global investment firm backed by Fidelity, launched its first devoted India healthcare and life sciences fund of $ 250 million.

Prem Pavoor, senior partner, head of India, and healthcare investments, Eight Roads Ventures says, “the healthcare market in India is at a tipping point. We have seen that play out in the markets such as China and the US.”

“Though the sector has been a mainstay for the firm for the last decade and a half that it has been active in India, now was the time for a dedicated sector focused fund,” Pavoor adds.

Pavoor says, we will make early to growth stage bets on companies and can go up to $40 million in an investment. It will look back at around 15-20 companies in lifesciences, healthcare services, consumer health, and digital health sectors. We are looking to deploy this capital over the next three to four years.”

According to reports, as it is a single LP fund, the firm has already started deploying from it and has made its first investment in physician-only platforms for a programmatic messaging platform
Doceree.

Eight Roads has been one of the active global investors in the region. With total assets under management of $1.6 billion in India, it has backed healthcare companies such as
Laurus Labs, Pharmeasy, Cipla Health, and Toothsi among others from its generalist fund.

Last year, Eight Roads made twelve investments in existing portfolio as well as new companies. It has backed over 60 companies across its two main sectors of focus – healthcare and technology. Beyond healthcare, the firm has backed over 30 technology scale-ups in India, making 21 investments.

Daniel Auerbach, senior managing partner and head of global ventures, Eight Roads Ventures says, “the launch of this healthcare fund reflects our confidence in the evolution of the India market and our commitment to help ambitious founders scale. Our ecosystem lends us capacity and scale, setting up powerful efficiencies, deep domain expertise, and the ability to trace trends and understanding across geographies.”