The HealthAlpha Podcast

I thought biotech was about breakthroughs—until I realised it’s really about surviving the funding game.In this episode, I sit down with Kiran Asarpota, a biotech operator who’s lived the full cycle—from raising $300M and taking a company public on Nasdaq to navigating the brutal reality of shutdowns.We get into what biotech startups don’t tell you—why early-stage funding is drying up, what “de-risking” actually means, and how investors really think about biotech valuation and clinical data.Kiran breaks down biotech fundraising strategies, venture capital in healthcare, and what it takes to build (and lose) a company in this high-risk industry.If you're a founder, investor, or just curious about how biotech startups raise capital and scale globally—this one’s real, raw, and worth your time.References:https://www.a-star.edu.sg/News/astarNews/news/features/forget-chasing-the-next-pfizer--singapore-s-biotech-future-lies-in-innovation--not-giants https://www.bain.com/insights/empowering-biotech-innovation-in-asia-pacific/   IN THIS EPISODE00:00 | Why Biotech Funding Is Getting Tougher 01:53 | What “De-Risking” Really Means for Your Startup 05:29 | Fundraising Advice Every Biotech Founder Needs 06:14 | Capital Basics: Equity, Debt, What to Choose 08:07 | When Venture Debt Actually Makes Sense 11:01 | Inside a $300M Biotech Fundraising Journey 12:14 | Convertible Notes & Extending Your Runway 14:15 | Why Taiwan First, Then Nasdaq 15:59 | What Really Drives Biotech Valuation 22:14 | Why Singapore Is a Biotech Hub 24:39 | Singapore’s Edge for Global Biotech Startups 25:02 | The Gaps Holding Singapore Back 27:33 | Why Singapore Shouldn’t Build the Next Pfizer 30:50 | The Reality of Risk & Failure in Biotech 33:40 | Cash Burn Lessons from Aslan 37:06 | What to Do When Your Data Isn’t Great 39:32 | How to Communicate with Investors 41:19 | The Hard Truth About Drug Manufacturing 43:12 | Scaling Biotech Beyond the Lab 46:53 | Key Takeaways for FoundersABOUT KIRAN ASARPOTAKiran Asarpota is Chief Operating Officer at Callio Therapeutics and leads all finance and operational matters of the company. With over 20 years of leadership experience across U.S. and international capital markets, biotech operations, and financial strategy, Kiran was most recently Chief Operating Officer of ASLAN Pharmaceuticals. Kiran brings deep product and market knowledge across Life Sciences, Biotech, MedTech, and HealthTech.ABOUT SUSHAANT BAKHRUSushaant Bakhru is an experienced healthcare professional with 15+ years in the industry, covering consulting, investment banking and corporate strategy / M&A. He is based in Singapore and is an advisor to healthcare startups and PE funds in the region. Connect with Sushaant:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbakhru/ ABOUT HealthAlpha HealthAlpha is a podcast aimed at the intersection of healthcare and business, showcasing innovative healthcare technologies and stories behind them. Through weekly conversations with pioneers across Asia, it will highlight gaps in healthcare systems and the people leveraging technology to effect disruptive change in the region.#HealthAlpha #HealthTech #HealthcareInnovation #FutureOfHealthcare

I thought healthcare investing was about money — turns out it’s about fixing a system that’s already cracking.In this episode, I sit down with Seemant Jauhari — from corporate beginnings to building his own healthcare fund and now Partner at Jungle Ventures — to unpack what’s really happening inside healthcare startups and venture capital in Asia.We get into why healthcare is one of the most resilient sectors, how digital health and AI are reshaping the space, and what founders get wrong about funding and scaling.Seemant breaks down how real investment theses are built — from hospitals to healthtech — and why capital continuity is the biggest hidden gap in venture capital today.If you're building or investing in healthcare startups, this is a clear, no-BS look at what actually works.IN THIS EPISODE00:00 | Asia’s Healthcare Crisis No One’s Solving 01:38 | Why Healthcare Investing Always Wins 04:03 | The $ Gap in Asia You Can’t Ignore 07:25 | Infra vs AI: Where the Real Money Is 09:07 | How Top Funds Actually Pick Winners 12:12 | The Funding Gap Killing Startups 15:56 | Building a Portfolio That Survives 18:14 | How to Raise Capital (Without Wasting Time) 24:10 | Managing Investor Money Without Losing It 29:00 | Why Capital Alone Doesn’t Build Companies 30:00 | Hospital Economics That Actually Work 30:58 | Profit vs Patient Care: The Real Balance 34:03 | How Investors Actually Make Exits 38:29 | Why Deals Have Slowed (And What It Means) 42:30 | Operational Alpha: The Real Edge 49:08 | The Asset-Light Model That Scales Fast 53:16 | Governance Mistakes That Kill Companies 56:55 | Founder Lessons Most People Learn Too LateSeemant Jauhari | Partner | Jungle VenturesAs a Partner Healthcare at Jungle Ventures, I lead the firm's investments in the healthcare sector across Southeast Asia and India. I have over 22 years of experience in venture capital, healthcare, public services, telecom, and IT, with a strong track record of creating, scaling, and operationalizing new businesses and nurturing them until they are on a growth trajectory.My core competencies include venture investments, business development, strategy, and healthcare innovation. I am passionate about building long-lasting businesses that solve real problems and create positive impact. I have held several board positions at healthcare startups. I hold an MBA from the Indian School of Business, a certificate from the Haas School of Business, and an executive education from Tel Aviv University.ABOUT SUSHAANT BAKHRUSushaant Bakhru is an experienced healthcare professional with 15+ years in the industry, covering consulting, investment banking and corporate strategy / M&A. He is based in Singapore and is an advisor to healthcare startups and PE funds in the region. Connect with Sushaant:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbakhru/ ABOUT HealthAlpha HealthAlpha is a podcast aimed at the intersection of healthcare and business, showcasing innovative healthcare technologies and stories behind them. Through weekly conversations with pioneers across Asia, it will highlight gaps in healthcare systems and the people leveraging technology to effect disruptive change in the region.#HealthAlpha #HealthTech #HealthcareInnovation #FutureOfHealthcare

In this episode of HealthAlpha, host Sushaant sits down with Shi-Ying Lau, Managing Partner at Adaptive Capital, to unpack how healthcare investors really think and what founders need to know to raise smarter capital in 2026 and beyond.We go deep into AI-powered diagnostics, early cancer detection, the bias in women’s health investment, and wearable health tech, and explore how Asia-based startups can successfully scale into the US market.If you’re building or investing in healthtech, medtech, biotech, or AI diagnostics, this episode is packed with real-world insights.IN THIS EPISODE00:00 | Why Healthcare Investing Is a Team Sport01:14 | Adaptive Capital’s Investment Thesis: AI, Diagnostics & Preventive Care04:15 | Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer: The AOAD Diagnostics Story10:23 | Why Women’s Health Has Been Underfunded (And Where the Real Opportunity Is)13:53 | Blood-Based Lung Cancer Screening: Delphi Diagnostics Explained18:52 | Clinical-Grade Wearables: How Respory Stands Out in a Crowded Market22:54 | How VCs Evaluate HealthTech Startups25:00 | Technical Due Diligence in Deep Tech Healthcare26:41 | What Investors Look for in Clinical Evidence & IP Strategy28:11 | Asian Companies Expanding to US Market31:21 | How to Evaluate IP: Patents, Licensing & Freedom to Operate33:37 | Reimbursement Strategy: Who Pays and Why It Matters36:32 | Fundraising in 2026: What Founders Must Do Differently39:37 | Building the Right Cap Table: Syndicates vs Single Lead Investors41:17 | Hard Truths for HealthTech Founders44:50 | What Global Investors Get Wrong About Asia45:28 | Final Advice: Building Companies That Actually LastABOUT SHI-YING LAUShi-Ying  Lau | Investor | Entrepreneur | Operator | Shi-Ying Lau is an operator and investor with 17 years of experience scaling businesses across 8 industries and 5 countries. They’ve held roles across Silicon Valley tech, corporate leadership, and management consulting.Lau has helped build the GrabCar business in Malaysia at Grab, scaling it into one of the company’s fastest-growing verticals in under two years despite intense competition and regulatory complexity.Today, Lau mentors and invests in Seed to Series C startups across the US, UK, and Southeast Asia in AI, SaaS, Healthtech, and Marketplaces — bringing a hands-on, values-driven approach to building companies.Connect with Shi-Ying Lau:https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiyinglau/  ABOUT SUSHAANT BAKHRUSushaant Bakhru is an experienced healthcare professional with 15+ years in the industry, covering consulting, investment banking and corporate strategy / M&A. He is based in Singapore and is an advisor to healthcare startups and PE funds in the region. Connect with Sushaant:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbakhru/ ABOUT HealthAlpha HealthAlpha is a podcast aimed at the intersection of healthcare and business, showcasing innovative healthcare technologies and stories behind them. Through weekly conversations with pioneers across Asia, it will highlight gaps in healthcare systems and the people leveraging technology to effect disruptive change in the region.#HealthAlpha #HealthTech #HealthcareInnovation #FutureOfHealthcare

Most cancer deaths are caused by metastasis, not the primary tumor. In this episode, Sushaant speaks with Arnab Roy Chowdhury about how his team at Metastop is tackling metastasis as a separate disease, using patient data, lab models, and machine learning to understand why cancer spreads and how to stop it.Their research points to cancer cell adaptation as the key bottleneck in metastasis. The team is now advancing two strategies:Drug repurposing with safe, existing medicines to delay metastasisFirst-in-class drug discovery targeting novel biological pathwaysWith regulatory approval in India to begin Phase 2 trials, this approach could reshape how cancer is treated. Shifting care from reacting to metastasis to preventing it before it starts.IN THIS EPISODE00:00 – Cancer Treatment Needs a Reset01:24 – Metastasis 101: Why Cancer Spreads04:50 – What Science Still Gets Wrong About Metastasis06:16 – The Three Stages of Metastasis12:15 – Bedside to Bench: Using Real Patient Tumors19:52 – Why Most Anti-Metastatic Drugs Failed22:48 – Finding the Right Targets in Cancer Spread26:01 – From Biology to Drug Candidates27:06 – Screening Drugs with AI + Biology27:52 – Why Metastasis Research Is So Slow28:49 – Drug Repurposing: The Shortcut to Patients30:53 – Fast-Track Animal Models for Metastasis31:54 – Real-World Evidence from Patient Histories37:45 – Predicting Who Will Develop Metastasis41:33 – Pharma Partnerships & Licensing Strategy43:59 – If Metastasis Is Prevented, What Happens to the $8B Market?45:38 – Building a Biotech Startup in India47:35 – The Future of Cancer CareABOUT DR. ARNAB ROY CHOWDHURYDr. Arnab  Roy Chowdhury | Founding Director & CSO | MestastopAs the founder of Mestastop Solutions, Arnab is passionate about solving the unmet medical need of cancer metastasis, which accounts for 90% of cancer deaths. With 23 years of experience in applied therapeutics, he has led eight discovery programs, four in cancer biology, and delivered a pre-IND candidate for triple-negative breast cancer.Arnab's mission is to develop novel platforms and predictive diagnostics to identify and target the rate-limiting steps of metastasis. Mestastop has built three platforms, METAssay®, METSCAN®, and METVivo®, that fill the gaps in drug discovery and validation. Retrospective clinical studies have demonstrated the potential of the drug repurposing platform METGuard®. Prospective clinical studies are ongoing to develop companion diagnostics to identify primary tumour patients at higher metastasis risk.Arnab & Mestastop is driven by the desire to make a difference in the lives of cancer patients and their families.Connect with Arnab: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arnabroyc/ https://mestastop.com/  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-025-02148-4https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36354098/https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-04149-3ABOUT SUSHAANT BAKHRUSushaant Bakhru is an experienced healthcare professional with 15+ years in the industry, covering consulting, investment banking and corporate strategy / M&A. He is based in Singapore and is an advisor to healthcare startups and PE funds in the region. Connect with Sushaant:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbakhru/ ABOUT HealthAlpha HealthAlpha is a podcast aimed at the intersection of healthcare and business, showcasing innovative healthcare technologies and stories behind them. Through weekly conversations with pioneers across Asia, it will highlight gaps in healthcare systems and the people leveraging technology to effect disruptive change in the region.#HealthAlpha #HealthTech #HealthcareInnovation #FutureOfHealthcare

In this episode of HealthAlpha, Sushaant interviews Dr. Ramesh Rajentheran to discuss the factors driving rising medical costs in Southeast Asia, challenges within health insurance companies, and ongoing difficulties patients face with claims and reimbursements. The discussion also addresses the role of regulation and brokers, the potential for AI to streamline administrative tasks, and the feasibility of integrated care models such as Kaiser Permanente in Asia.With real-world examples from Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, plus reflections for founders and investors building in healthcare, this episode is a candid, practical look at what’s broken in healthcare financing and where real change might come from.IN THIS EPISODE01:29 | Asia’s Healthcare System Is Breaking But Why?03:00 | Healthcare Will Decide Elections in Asia 05:02 | Asia’s Real Healthcare Crisis Is Not Hospitals06:51 | Why Your Insurance Premium Just Exploded Overnight09:32 | Your Insurance Company Is Wasting Your Money 16:10 | Why Health Insurance Is “Broken by Design”23:19 | The Personal Tragedy That Sparked a Health Tech Startup25:53 | The Data Insurers Don’t Collect (And Why That’s Insane)26:16 | Mistake That Almost Killed the Company26:49 | Why Health Insurance Will Never Have a “Big Disruption Moment”27:47 | Fax Machines in 2025?! Inside the Absurd Reality of Insurance Claims29:08 | AI Won’t Cure First. It Will Kill Paperwork 31:27 | Why Insurers Refuse to Cover the Elderly and Cancer Survivors35:42 | This Healthcare Model Aligns Incentives (And Actually Works)41:20 | What Governments Get Wrong About Fixing Healthcare44:30 | Brutally Honest Startup Advice for Founders in Their 30s, 40s, and 50sABOUT DR. RAMESH RAJENTHERANRamesh is CFO and Head of Asia at Cuezen, which is a leader in AI-driven healthpersonalization. He is also an Operating partner at TVM Capital Healthcare, a private Equityfund focused on the Middle East and SEA. Ramesh is also a Founding Shareholder of Hisential, which creates high-end clinics and luxury products for men in Singapore and Malaysia. He was formerly CEO & Co-Founder of MiyaHealth, a Strategic and VC-backed Insurance/Health technology firm that used AI to improve Health Insurance and patient experience in Asia and Europe. Prior to this, Ramesh was CFO and COO at a Healthcare Major where he helped acquire and integrate over 20 companies in 2.5 years, creating one of Asia’s largest Managed Care and Primary Care Companies. He also executed Asia’s first guaranteed bond and the region’s first perpetual bond by a healthcare company.https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramesh-rajentheran-723248/  ABOUT SUSHAANT BAKHRUSushaant Bakhru is an experienced healthcare professional with 15+ years in the industry, covering consulting, investment banking and corporate strategy / M&A. He is based in Singapore and is an advisor to healthcare startups and PE funds in the region. Connect with Sushaant:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbakhru/ ABOUT HealthAlpha HealthAlpha is a podcast aimed at the intersection of healthcare and business, showcasing innovative healthcare technologies and stories behind them. Through weekly conversations with pioneers across Asia, it will highlight gaps in healthcare systems and the people leveraging technology to effect disruptive change in the region.Patient voices: experiences of healthcare access in Asia report: https://impact.economist.com/health/patient-voices-asia Beyond Coverage - The Social and Economic Impact of Insurance in ASEAN report: https://www.prudentialplc.com/content/dam/prudential-plc/newsroom/though-leadership/beyond-coverage-the-social-and-economic-impact-of-insurance-in-asean/beyond-coverage-report.pdf  FOMCA: People Are Taking Loans To Pay Medical Insurance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHlSOBgxE3w #HealthAlpha #HealthTech #HealthcareInnovation #FutureOfHealthcare

In the debut episode of Health Alpha, host Sushaant sits down with Jyothish, the founder of LivEzee, to discuss one of the most pressing demographic shifts of our time: the "super-aging" of Asia.While the world focuses on youth, a silent revolution is happening in countries like India, where the elderly population is expected to grow by 134% over the next three decades. Nowhere is this more evident than in Kerala, where migration and changing family structures have left many seniors living alone. We dive deep into how technology, from AI-driven health predictions to IoT fall sensors, is being used to help seniors live happily, healthily, and independently in their own homes.IN THIS EPISODE00:58 | From Investment Banking to Elder Care. Jyothish’s Personal Journey05:54 | Why Is Kerala Aging Faster Than the Rest of India10:30 | How Migration Reshaped Kerala’s Economy18:58 | How Kerala’s Elders Live, Spend, and Worry About the Future22:34 | Rethinking Elder Care: Why LivEzee Was Built26:59 | The 3H Model Explained: Health, Happiness and Home36:17 | AI, IoT, and Prevention: How Tech Is Powering Elder Care at Home46:43 | Aging Is Not “Them”: Dignity, Independence, and Our Future SelvesABOUT JYOTHISH PARAMESWARAN MOHINI (PM)Jyothish Parameswaran Mohini is the Co Founder and CEO of LivEzee | Elder Care Solutions. At the helm of LivEzee Eldercare, his focus lies in revolutionizing eldercare through the synthesis of AI and personalized human attention, ensuring the safety and well-being of seniors. This mission leverages his expertise in orchestrating strategic growth, business development and innovation, skills honed while leading various strategic endeavors in the financial services industry in Asia-Pacific through the last 2 decades.Connect with Jyothish:https://www.linkedin.com/in/pmjyothish/ Find the INDIA AGEING REPORT 2023 here:https://india.unfpa.org/en/publications/caring-our-elders-institutional-responses-india-ageing-report-2023 ABOUT SUSHAANT BAKHRUSushaant Bakhru is an experienced healthcare professional with 15+ years in the industry, covering consulting, investment banking and corporate strategy / M&A. He is based in Singapore and is an advisor to healthcare startups and PE funds in the region. Connect with Sushaant:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbakhru/ ABOUT HealthAlpha HealthAlpha is a podcast aimed at the intersection of healthcare and business, showcasing innovative healthcare technologies and stories and people behind them. Through weekly conversations with Founders and Investors across Asia, it will highlight gaps in healthcare systems, the people leveraging technology to effect disruptive change and the investors backing them.#HealthAlpha #HealthTech #HealthcareInnovation #FutureOfHealthcare #Asia