OUR STORY
Somerset is built around the belief that disciplined capital can drive both performance and meaningful healthcare impact. Focused on India’s healthcare “Missing Middle,” the firm invests in scalable healthcare platforms that improve access, affordability, and quality across underserved markets. With a strong foundation in healthcare and life sciences, Somerset combines long-term partnerships, operational value creation, and institutional discipline to build resilient businesses with purpose-driven growth.
Foundational Pillars
Institutional Team and Best Practices
Institutionalisation is an ongoing priority as Somerset scales. We continue to deepen structured governance frameworks, SOP-led processes, risk oversight, and functional capabilities to support disciplined decision-making and long-term platform scalability. As the firm evolves, institutional rigour remains central to how we invest, operate, and partner.
Philosophy, Value Creation, and Performance
Strong returns are built on rigorous underwriting, active value creation, and disciplined capital allocation. Our track record reflects a focus on downside protection, operational engagement, and long-term performance consistency.
ESG and
Impact Leadership
Responsible investing is embedded within our process. Our SDG-aligned framework integrates impact measurement and ESG integration across access, affordability, jobs, and quality. This approach supports sustainability-aligned investing with measurable and transparent outcomes.
Capital for change in healthcare
A Conviction Takes Shape
Founded by Avinash Kenkare and Mayur Sirdesai, Somerset brought together global private equity experience with deep sector expertise in healthcare and life sciences.
From the outset, the focus was clear—India’s “Missing Middle”: underserved, underpenetrated markets beyond metros with strong potential for scalable healthcare platforms.
Fund I
Somerset Indus Healthcare Fund I achieved its first close on 1 January 2012, marking the beginning of Somerset’s platform-building journey across healthcare delivery, pharma, diagnostics, MedTech, and wellness.
Building the Lens | Focus & Discipline
Somerset focused early on Tier II and Tier III India, where access gaps were widest.
A disciplined investment approach, long-term partnerships, and active value creation became core to the model—driving both performance and measurable outcomes in access, affordability, and quality.
Fund II & Institutionalisation
With the launch of Fund II
- Offshore Fund: 6 June 2018
- Onshore Fund: 30 April 2019
Somerset deepened its leadership with the addition of Partners- Ramesh Kannan and Sharad Ladha.
ESG Formalised
Responsible investing became institutionalised, with ESG frameworks embedded across the investment lifecycle—strengthening governance, risk management, and long-term value creation.
Evolving the Model | Capital as Catalyst
Somerset’s approach evolved beyond capital deployment to active partnership. Early promoter engagement, operational value creation, and institutional discipline enabled scalable, resilient healthcare platforms.
Fund III & Impact Integration
Fund III achieved its first close on 12 August 2024, continuing Somerset’s focus on catalytic growth capital for healthcare platforms serving India’s Missing Middle.
Impact Formalised
A dedicated Impact function was established—bringing structured measurement, reporting, and alignment with global impact frameworks.
Strengthening the Platform
- Memberships with GIIN and Impact Investors Council (IIC)
- Enhanced alignment with global impact standards and best practices
Today | Performance with Purpose
Somerset continues to build scaled healthcare platforms that deliver strong returns while improving access, affordability, and quality.
A consistent strategy. A clear purpose.
Investment Criteria
Somerset’s Sector Focus
Healthcare Delivery
Hospitals and specialty clinics in Tier 2 and Tier 3 India – the backbone of the Missing Middle thesis.
We back multi-specialty and single-speciality platforms with the capital and operational support to scale beyond metros.
Backbone of the Missing Middle
Diagnostics
Pathology, radiology, and PPP-enabled diagnostic networks that bring affordable, quality testing closer to underserved populations.
Bringing quality diagnostics closer
Pharmaceuticals & Life Sciences
CDMOs, APIs, branded generics, and biosimilars.
India is the pharmacy of the world – we back the mid-sized operators building that supply chain from the inside out.
Powering India, Supplying the World
Medtech & Medical Devices
From biomedical equipment distribution to frugal innovation designed for Indian clinical environments.
The right device in the right hospital in the right city changes outcomes.
Right device. Right impact.
Retail Chains & Distribution
Pharma retail chains, cold chain infrastructure, stockist distribution, and supply chain networks that ensure availability, affordability, and last-mile reach across India.
Right product. Right place. Every time
Wellness & Nutrition
Nutraceuticals, clinical nutrition, and preventive health – a sector that has moved from discretionary to essential as India’s disease burden shifts toward chronic lifestyle conditions.
From Discretionary to Essential
Healthtech & Digital Health
Telemedicine, AI-enabled diagnostics, and digital health platforms are compressing the distance between patient and provider.
We back technology that solves real access problems.
Technology with Purpose.
Healthcare Financing & Insurance
Micro-insurance, health BNPL, and insurance models designed for the Missing Middle.
Affordable care means nothing if the financing isn’t there to access it.
Access enabled. Care delivered.
Allied Healthcare
An integrated ecosystem that includes diagnostics support, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, home care, mental health, and more.
Also includes animal health and elderly care services – addressing critical and underserved needs across the care continuum.
Integrated care. Better outcomes.
Healthcare Packaging
An underappreciated but critical link in the pharmaceutical supply chain – sustainable, compliant packaging that supports India’s growing pharma export ambitions.
Sustainable. Compliant. Future-ready.
Structural Drivers of
Healthcare Growth
Rising Healthcare Spending
Growing incomes, increasing health awareness, and expanding middle-class consumption are accelerating healthcare spending across services, diagnostics, and wellness.
Insurance Expansion & Government Support
Large-scale programs such as Ayushman Bharat, along with increasing private insurance penetration, are expanding access to healthcare services across the country.
Changing Disease Burden
India is witnessing a shift from infectious diseases toward chronic and lifestyle-related illnesses, driving sustained demand for hospitals, diagnostics, and specialty care.
Technology & Digital Health Adoption
Telemedicine, AI-enabled diagnostics, digital health platforms, and advanced medical technologies are improving healthcare delivery and accessibility.
WHERE WE INVEST?
- Strong financial fundamentals and scalable, defensible business models
- Investment sizes of $15 to $40 million
- Measurable impact outcomes supported by responsible business practices
- Proven promoters with execution strength and adaptability
- Clear and time-bound exit pathways via IPO, strategic sale, or secondary transactions
WHERE WE INVEST?
Why Now?
Scale Meets Structural Gaps
India is one of the fastest-growing major economies globally, yet a meaningful gap persists between economic progress and access to essential services.
- 7%+ GDP Growth
- 1.4B+ Population
- $1T+ FDI Inflows
Rising incomes and rapid urbanisation are accelerating demand—creating large, underpenetrated opportunity pools.
Where the Gap is Most Visible
This disconnect is most pronounced in healthcare, where demand is strong, but infrastructure and delivery remain constrained.
WHY NOW?
Healthcare
High Demand. Structural Undersupply.
India’s healthcare sector is defined by strong demand fundamentals but limited organized capacity:
Access & Infrastructure Gap
- ~1.3-1.5 beds per 1,000 people
- Below 2 beds per 1,000 target (policy benchmark)
- Significant regional disparities in access
Low Spend, High Out-of-Pocket
- ~3.2% of GDP healthcare spend
- ~48–60% out-of-pocket expenditure
Rising Demand Drivers
- 500M+ people covered under public health insurance (Ayushman Bharat)
- Shift toward chronic and lifestyle diseases
- Rapid adoption of digital health and telemedicine
Demand is scaling rapidly—but supply remains fragmented and capacity-constrained.
The Resulting Opportunity
This persistent gap between demand and delivery creates a large, scalable investment opportunity across hospitals, diagnostics, and tech-enabled care.
Healthcare
Growth Capital
The Catalyst for Scale and Consolidation
India’s healthcare ecosystem is rich in high-quality operators—but constrained by fragmentation and limited access to capital.
Fragmented Market
- Private sector delivers ~70%+ of care
- Highly regional, sub-scale providers dominate
Capacity Shortfall
- ~3M additional beds required to meet demand
- Shortage of doctors, nurses, and infrastructure
Capital Gap
- Majority of providers remain:
- Promoter-led
- Regionally concentrated
- Under-institutionalised
What Growth Capital Enables
- Expansion of beds, labs, and infrastructure
- Consolidation of fragmented assets
- Integration of digital and AI-led solutions
- Institutionalisation of scalable platforms
Growth Capital
The Opportunity
India × Healthcare × Growth Capital
- India → Large, underpenetrated market
- Healthcare → Structural demand with supply gaps
- Growth Capital → Enables scale, consolidation, and efficiency
This convergence points to a meaningful opportunity to address critical healthcare gaps across India.
India at a Glance (Layout: Statistics Cards)
7.4%
Projected real GDP growth for FY26, positioning India among the fastest-growing major economies.
US$1.12 Trillion
Cumulative FDI inflows since 2000, reflecting strong global investor confidence.
1.4+ Billion
Population with one of the world’s youngest demographic profiles and rising healthcare demand.
Rapid Urbanisation & Rising Incomes
Driving increased healthcare consumption and private sector participation.
The Opportunity
Value Creation
Somerset partners with proven operators building scalable healthcare platforms in India’s underserved Tier II and III markets. Our approach is hands-on from day one – we engage early with promoters, often before capital is deployed, to align on strategy, strengthen leadership, and build the institutional foundations that enable sustainable scale.
We don’t just provide capital. We co-build – structuring 100-Day Plans post-investment, supporting critical management hires, enabling inorganic expansion through M&A, opening market access channels, and embedding ESG and Impact discipline across operations. Every lever we pull is oriented toward one outcome: a healthcare business that is larger, stronger, and more resilient at exit than it was at entry.