Indian Healthtech Sector Nascent with Unlimited Opportunities: W Health Ventures Despite the growth, challenges persist, including the digital divide and infrastructure limitations, particularly in rural and remote areas. Chugh said that healthcare ventures are trying to use technology to improve access and distribute facilities better.

The Indian healthtech sector is still nascent but opportunities are unlimited with very little being done in terms of penetration, said Namit Chugh, Principal at W Health Ventures, a healthcare-focused fund with a portfolio across India and the US.

The healthtech sector in India is currently experiencing significant growth, mainly driven by advancements, government initiatives, and increasing demand for accessible solutions. The market is currently valued at USD 6.5 billion, with a projection to reach USD 78.37 billion by 2033, according to research firm Custom Market Insights.

"And that's the reason why we are a healthcare-focused fund because the opportunities are unlimited. And very little has been done. And the number of startups, the amount of private equity funding that has happened in late-stage, hospitals, the overall excitement and business models, I think all those things allow us to continue to stay excited about the space," said Chugh.

Despite the growth, challenges persist, including the digital divide and infrastructure limitations, particularly in rural and remote areas. Chugh said that healthcare ventures are trying to use technology to improve access and distribute facilities better.

"Now even a person sitting in tier-II, tier-III city has availability and access to top-notch doctors. Diabetes, mental health, obesity, pain management, and parenting. These are some spaces that we have invested in, and trying to grow something in a few other spaces, including oncology. We continue to stay excited about some of these single specialties, where the format can be taken out of a hospital in a clinic-based model so that it becomes asset-like and can be used as an enabler," said Chugh.

The healthcare VC also added that one of their investment strategies is based on the 'India to the globe', a narrative that revolves around solving for global issues using the country's resources. "We feel that tech and services for health care can be offered from India for the rest of the world. And that's the second area where we have a couple of investments as well," said Chugh.

For instance, Mylo, a company in W Health Venture's portfolio, is a content-driven community commerce company that supports new and soon-to-be mothers and offers consumer products that are helpful during this phase.

"This is a fairly engaged community, two and a half million monthly active users where we can post questions, and then other women who have gone through the same journey, they address some of the answers. And they also publish a lot of clinically validated content. So the content and community play a role there in terms of engagement. And then the company sells healthcare as well as consumer products for both mother and children, which kind of completes the full circle. Once there is trust built by the community, they buy products from the company," said Chugh.

The US healthcare sector is at least 6-7 years ahead of India, according to Chugh, and it is the reason why the venture firm has its portfolio spread across the US market.

"The profit pools in the US are much larger compared to India. Now, there are spaces where we feel there are opportunities and profit pools, which we can tap into. And given India's unique advantage today in terms of technology and talent availability, I think that makes a lot of sense to create business models or invest in business models in this cross-border arbitrage," said Chugh.

AI did not make a significant impact in terms of medical problem-solving but could be useful in solving administrative tasks that large markets like the US face, according to Chugh. "A lot of admin work can be done and it's a large part of one of our India to US thesis that can use AI to solve some of the administrative problems that US healthcare faces."

Chugh also predicts that areas like personal care will emerge as one of the strong sectors, because of its intersection with consumer and healthcare.

"Areas that have emerged this year is the entire piece around aesthetics and dermatology. There's an emerging India that is the typical Nykaa-Zomato user. Now these people are spending a lot of money on their cosmetology from head to toe. Men are spending mostly on hair transplants and wrinkles. And there are clinical aspects to it and plastic surgeons are required for some of these things. So they are at the intersection of consumer and healthcare. For women, I think a lot of surgeries around breast augmentation, nose lifting, and abdominoplasty will continue be in demand," said Chugh.