Eight Roads adds partner to India team

Eight Roads, which established its presence in the country in 2007, has about $1 billion in assets under management locally. The team has completed 20 investments so far this year.

Venkataramani (pictured) will support investments in healthcare, including pharmaceuticals, consumer health, healthcare technology, and services. Most recently, he worked on Eight Roads' investment in OZiva, a leading clean, plant-based nutrition brand.

Venkataramani joined the firm in 2019 as a principal, after spending four years at Pfizer, most recently as a senior director and business unit head. He also has management consulting experience at the Boston Consulting Group and Accenture.

“As we continue to build our portfolio, a key priority for us is to have the right talent in place to support and mentor our portfolio and teams,” Raj Dugar, a managing partner at Eight Roads India, said in a statement. “His experience and network in the industry as an operator is invaluable as we strengthen the franchise in India.”

Venkataramani's promotion follows that of Aditya Systla in January. Systia, who joined the firm in 2015 from Peepul Capital, covers technology, consumer, and financial services.

Eight Roads backs founders of early growth and growth-stage companies in India. It claims to be one of the few GPs in the country with specialized teams in technology and healthcare. In addition to OZiva, other recent investments include education technology provider Quizizz and small business sales platform Zomentum.

Eight Roads, formerly known as Fidelity Growth Partners, spun out from Fidelity International in 2019. It often invests alongside its sister entity F-Prime, formerly Fidelity Biosciences, which is also backed by Fidelity. The firm is active in Japan, China, Europe, and the US, as well as India.

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