Venture capital firm HealthKois has launched a $300 million fund targeting early growth-stage Indian startups in biotech and life sciences. This move aims to support firms in areas like AI-led drug discovery and gene therapy, addressing the limited availability of specialized risk capital in India's emerging drug innovation sector.
HealthKois, a Delhi-based venture capital firm established in 2025, has announced a $300 million fund dedicated to the Indian healthcare and biotechnology sector. The firm plans to invest between $7 million and $25 million in each selected early growth-stage company. This capital is intended for businesses operating in fields such as AI-driven drug discovery, cell and gene therapy, biosimilars, and precision oncology.
The Shift Toward Drug Innovation
This funding initiative arrives as India's pharmaceutical sector transitions toward original research and development. According to a report by HealthKois and BCG, the country has seen ten new drug candidates emerge in the last decade, compared to only one in the ten years prior. The number of biotech startups in India has also risen from approximately 1,500 to 2,400 in fiscal year 2026. Furthermore, Indian pharma patent families have grown significantly, rising from 716 in 2015 to 2,995 in 2024, which has increased India's share of global pharmaceutical patents to roughly 10%.
Challenges in Specialized Funding
Despite this growth, the sector faces a shortage of specialized investment. HealthKois managing partner Charles Janssen noted that while about 60% of venture capital firms in the US possess life sciences expertise, the figure in India is significantly lower at 10% to 15%. This gap often creates difficulties in valuing intellectual property, which can limit the size of funding rounds for startups. However, high-profile transactions, such as the $700 million out-licensing deal between Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and AbbVie, have helped highlight the commercial viability of Indian-developed drug assets to investors.
Market Dynamics and Ecosystem Growth
The broader Indian healthcare and life sciences investment environment has shown increased activity, with private equity and venture capital inflows into pharmaceutical companies reaching $731 million in fiscal year 2026—a 2.1x increase compared to the previous period. Industry observers point to several factors supporting this momentum, including shortened drug approval timelines, which now range between 60 and 120 days in some instances, and improved academic-industry research collaborations.
Additionally, India's large genomic diversity and cost efficiencies in clinical trials provide potential advantages for drug discovery. Currently, India accounts for about 2% of novel molecules in the global pipeline, despite holding nearly 15% of the global disease burden. The industry's goal is to increase this to 40-50 novel assets over the next ten years to establish a stronger global presence. For investors, the success of this fund and the broader sector will depend on the ability of these startups to successfully navigate the complex drug development cycle and secure commercial partnerships for their research.