MUMBAI: Smile Group has taken a bold step into Healthtech. The tech investment and venture-building firm has named pharma industry veteran Gagandeep Singh Bedi as managing partner to lead its new Healthtech Venture Builder initiative, marking its formal foray into a space projected to hit $50 billion across APAC.
With more than 25 years of leadership experience at Astrazeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, and Baxter, Bedi brings both gravitas and grit to the new role. At Astrazeneca India, he steered a turnaround that doubled market growth and tripled market capitalisation to $1 billion, while also contributing to India’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout.
Bedi has been actively involved in India’s startup ecosystem, leading healthcare innovation partnerships with IIT Kanpur and the India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre, alongside early-stage bets in Healthtech startups focused on coronary and oncology care.
“Smile Group’s strong track record in scaling impactful, tech-forward ventures across Asia is something I’ve always deeply respected”, said Bedi. “Their unique approach—combining capital with deep operational support—resonates strongly with my focus on partnering with mission-driven startup founders”.
Smile Group founder & CEO Harish Bahl added, “With AI in healthcare becoming a $50B+ opportunity across APAC, and India’s market growing at 42 per cent annually, the pace of change in Healthtech is phenomenal. Gagandeep’s rare combination of corporate leadership and Healthtech experience makes him the ideal fit”.
The venture builder will focus on co-creating disruptive Healthtech businesses across Asia by combining Smile’s capital firepower and founder-first model with Bedi’s domain expertise and deep ecosystem connects.