W Health Ventures Fund II: ₹550 crore first close to ₹700 crore

FundingIshaan VardhanOct 22, 20268 min read

W Health Ventures, a healthcare investor that builds companies from scratch instead of waiting for founders to pitch, announced a ₹550 crore first close of its second fund in February 2026. Seven months later, in September 2026, it closed Fund II at ₹700 crore (about $74 million), above its ₹630 crore target. This article covers how the fund grew, what its “company creation” model means, which companies it has backed so far, and what it plans to build next.

Key takeaways

• W Health Ventures launched Fund II in July 2025 with a target of $70 million (₹609 crore) and a $30 million greenshoe (an option to accept more money if demand is strong), according to Inc42.
• It announced a first close of ₹550 crore on 12 February 2026 and a final close of ₹700 crore in September 2026, beating its ₹630 crore target.
• The fund plans to build 8–10 healthcare companies over four years and put ₹30–50 crore into each one.
• Its first Fund II companies are Everhope Oncology, a cancer care platform built with Narayana Health, and Everbright Health, a US mental health services company.
• Focus areas include oncology, psychiatry, geriatrics, chronic pain, and longevity and preventive health.

From launch to final close

The fund moved through three public milestones:

Scroll the table sideways →

For readers outside India: one crore is 10 million rupees, so ₹700 crore is ₹7 billion. DealStreetAsia put the final close at about $74 million. The target was described slightly differently over time: Entrackr and BioSpectrum reported about ₹630 crore at the first close, Inc42 reported ₹600 crore, and the firm’s own Fund II page says the final close beat a ₹630 crore target. We use the firm’s figure.

A “first close” means the fund has enough committed money to start investing while it keeps raising. A “final close” means it has stopped taking new commitments. Going from ₹550 crore to ₹700 crore in seven months means the firm raised another ₹150 crore after it had already begun deploying capital.

Inc42 reported that the fund’s limited partners (LPs, the investors in the fund) include family offices and institutions from India and the US. On its Fund II page, W Health highlights that many of its LPs come from the healthcare industry itself. It hasn’t named them publicly.

What a “company creation” fund does

Most venture funds wait for founders to pitch. W Health works the other way round. On its Fund II page, it calls itself India’s first healthcare company creation fund. The process it describes:

1. Its in-house team of physicians, operators and technologists, about 50 people, identifies gaps in how healthcare is delivered.
2. It spends 12–18 months validating a problem before building anything.
3. It then recruits a founding team to run a business that has already been designed and de-risked.
4. The fund puts ₹30–50 crore into each company it creates.

Managing partner Dr Pankaj Jethwani called it “a company creation fund” when describing the first close to Inc42. For the final close, he said on the firm’s page that the team goes where the “structural mismatch is highest” and stays with a problem for about a year before building.

This is a change from Fund I. When Fund II launched, Inc42 reported that the first fund’s average cheque was $1–5 million, while Fund II plans fewer, larger and more hands-on bets. W Health also runs a venture studio, 2070 Health, which builds companies from inception. Inc42 reported that 2070 Health secured $30 million from W Health in 2023.

Who runs it

W Health Ventures was launched in 2019 by Sunil Wadhwani, according to Inc42 and Entrackr. Dr Pankaj Jethwani is managing partner and also CEO of 2070 Health.

The Fund I track record

W Health hasn’t disclosed the size of its first fund. BioSpectrum listed its Fund I portfolio as:

• India: Nivaan (chronic pain), BeatO (diabetes), ElevateNow (obesity), BabyMD (paediatrics) and Mylo (parenting)
• Cross-border: Wysa (AI mental health) and Reveal HealthTech (AI services for healthcare companies)

The firm says every Fund I company has raised outside growth capital, according to BioSpectrum and DealStreetAsia. It also says its portfolio has reached 25 million patients. Both claims come from the firm itself, and portfolio-level returns haven’t been published.

Fund II’s first two companies

Everhope Oncology

Everhope was launched in March 2025 by W Health Ventures, 2070 Health and Narayana Health, one of India’s large hospital chains, with $10 million (about ₹86 crore) in seed funding, according to Inc42. It aims to provide diagnosis, chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and palliative care, and planned to expand to 10 cities within three years.

In August 2025, it opened its first centre, a 15-bed cancer daycare facility in Gurugram for chemotherapy and targeted therapy, Hospital Management reported. Daycare means patients are treated and go home the same day. Its next planned sites were South Delhi and Noida, then Mumbai and Bengaluru, and it set a target of more than 100,000 treatment sessions over three years.

Everbright Health

Everbright launched in October 2025 with $7 million in seed funding from W Health Ventures and Sanos Capital, according to the company’s announcement. It doesn’t open its own clinics. Instead, it helps existing US mental health practices offer advanced treatments for depression that hasn’t responded to standard care, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and SPRAVATO, a nasal-spray treatment. It handles the clinical infrastructure, technology and admin work, including insurance prior authorisations. At launch, it said it had more than 75 provider partners in seven markets.

In December 2025, Behavioral Health Business reported that Everbright was expanding into four more markets in early 2026: Southern California, South Texas, the US Northeast and the US Virgin Islands. Its co-founder and CEO is Ben Kuhn.

The two companies show the fund’s “US-India corridor” in practice: one is built for Indian patients with an Indian hospital partner, and the other serves US mental health practices.

What W Health wants to build next

Across its announcements, the firm has named these areas for Fund II:

• oncology (cancer care)
• psychiatry and mental health
• geriatrics, meaning care for people aged 65 and over
• chronic pain
• longevity and preventive health

Preventive health is the hardest of these to build a business in. Jethwani told Inc42 in 2025 that it’s difficult everywhere, and harder in India because insurance usually doesn’t cover it. That is one reason the fund’s model leans towards care delivery companies, which earn from treatment, over pure consumer apps.

Why it matters

Indian healthtech funding has been tight. Inc42 reported that the sector raised $716 million in 2024, down 49% from $1.4 billion in 2022. A specialist fund closing above target in that market suggests LPs still back focused healthcare investors who can show portfolio companies raising follow-on money.

For founders, the model changes the usual pitch process. W Health often decides on the problem first and then hires the founding team, so doctors and operators who want to start a healthcare company may find a better route in by joining one of its builds than by cold-pitching. With 8–10 companies planned over four years and two already funded, expect roughly two new launches a year. You can follow new healthcare rounds on our funding tracker and in startup news.

FAQ

How big is W Health Ventures Fund II?

₹700 crore (about $74 million) at final close in September 2026, above its ₹630 crore target. The first close in February 2026 was ₹550 crore.

How much does W Health invest per company?

It plans to invest ₹30–50 crore in each of 8–10 companies over four years.

What companies has Fund II backed?

Everhope Oncology, a cancer care platform built with Narayana Health, and Everbright Health, a US company that helps mental health practices offer TMS and SPRAVATO treatments.

Who are W Health Ventures’ Fund I companies?

BioSpectrum lists Nivaan, BeatO, ElevateNow, BabyMD, Mylo, Wysa and Reveal HealthTech.

Can founders pitch W Health Ventures?

Its Fund II model starts from problems its own team identifies, and then it recruits founders to build them. Check the firm’s website for how it engages with external founders.

Sources

1. Inc42, “W Health Ventures Launches $70 Mn Fund To Back 8-10 Healthtech Startups”, 30 July 2025. Link
2. Entrackr, “W Health Ventures announces first close of Fund II at Rs 550 Cr”, 12 February 2026. Link
3. Inc42, “W Health Ventures Marks First Close Of Fund II At ₹550 Cr”, 12 February 2026. Link
4. BioSpectrum India, “W Health Ventures announces initial close of Fund II at Rs 550Cr to launch and scale healthcare companies”, 13 February 2026. Link
5. W Health Ventures, “W Health Ventures Closes Fund II at ₹700 Crore”, September 2026. Link
6. DealStreetAsia, “India: W Health Ventures raises $74m in final close of Fund II, exceeds target”, 9 September 2026. Link
7. Inc42, “W Health Ventures Marks Close Of Fund II At ₹700 Cr”, 8 September 2026. Link
8. Inc42, “W Health Ventures, Narayana Health Launch Everhope Oncology”, 20 March 2025. Link
9. Hospital Management, “Everhope Oncology opens cancer daycare centre in India”, 7 August 2025. Link
10. Everbright Health, “Everbright Health launches to expand access to advanced mental health care”, 14 October 2025. Link
11. Behavioral Health Business, “Exclusive: Interventional Psychiatry Operator Everbright Health Launches in 4 New Markets”, 31 December 2025. Link

Featured image: Narayana Health City in Bengaluru. Narayana Health co-founded Everhope Oncology, Fund II's first company, with W Health. · Photo: Paliwiki / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

How this article was made: researched and drafted with AI assistance by the 100xFounder editorial desk, using only the sources listed in it; every figure links to its source. Read our editorial policy, or report an error through our corrections policy.

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