Eight Roads Research
Overview
Eight Roads is a global venture capital firm with roots dating to 1969 when it was founded as Fidelity Ventures out of Boston. Originally backing early innovators like MCI, Continental Cablevision, and Atari, the firm has evolved into one of the world's largest venture platforms operating under the Eight Roads brand — backed by Fidelity Investments and investing independently across Asia, Europe, and Israel. Today the firm manages over $5 billion in AUM, has backed 350+ portfolio companies, and supported 35+ IPOs across its multi-decade history.
Investment Thesis
Eight Roads invests in ambitious technology and healthcare companies at the growth stage, partnering with founders who are building category-defining businesses. The firm's core thesis is that capital combined with global ecosystem access — connections spanning Asia, Europe, and Israel — creates a unique advantage for portfolio companies seeking to expand internationally. Eight Roads backs companies that demonstrate product-market fit and early commercial traction, with the aim of helping them scale significantly beyond domestic markets.
The firm operates through four regional investment teams (China, Europe & Israel, India, and Japan) plus a US sister fund (F-Prime Capital), each with deep local expertise and investment autonomy while sharing a global platform. This structure allows them to identify opportunities across geographies and provide portfolio companies with access to cross-border networks.
Sector Focus
Eight Roads focuses on two primary verticals across all regions: technology and healthcare.
Within technology, the firm invests across:
- Enterprise software and SaaS (contract intelligence, sales performance management, HR tech, digital adoption, brand protection, graph databases)
- Fintech and payments (embedded finance, consumer lending, credit marketplaces, digital banking infrastructure)
- Developer tools and infrastructure (marketing attribution platforms, data analytics)
- Logistics and supply chain technology
- Autonomous vehicles and robotics
Within healthcare, the firm invests across:
- Biotech and life sciences (drug discovery, gene therapy, ADC therapeutics, precision fermentation / biomanufacturing)
- Digital health and healthcare IT (physical therapy SaaS, pharmacy platforms, medical imaging)
- Healthcare services (dialysis networks, hospice)
- Pharmaceutical companies
Regional specializations: India focuses on fintech, healthcare IT, and enterprise software; China leads on biotech/life sciences, autonomous driving, and digital health; Europe & Israel focuses on enterprise software scale-ups and fintech; Japan covers fintech, healthcare, and emerging technology.
Stage Focus
Eight Roads primarily invests at the growth stage — Series B through Series D — and occasionally participates at Series A for exceptional founders, particularly in India. The Europe & Israel team explicitly positions itself as a "scale-up" investor, with Fund IV sized at $450M specifically for later-stage scaling rounds. The Japan team describes its mandate as "growth stage, although occasionally earlier if the company is truly unique."
Typical entry points: Series A ($15M–$30M rounds with participation), Series B and C ($30M–$100M+ rounds, often as lead or co-lead).
Check Size
Estimated check size ranges from $10M to $50M, with the ability to write larger checks for scale-up rounds in Europe and China. Evidence from recent investments:
- Led €42M round in Swan (embedded finance, Europe, Feb 2025)
- Led $30M Series B in Everstage (sales performance management, India, Oct 2024)
- Participated in $15M Series A in SPRY Therapeutics (India, Oct 2024)
- Participated in $102M follow-on round in Pony.ai (China, Jul 2025)
- Participated in $90M Series E in Fibe (India)
Lead Tendency
Eight Roads both leads and participates in rounds depending on the region, stage, and conviction level. For earlier-stage entries in India, they often lead. For large strategic rounds in China and portfolio follow-ons, they frequently participate alongside other investors. The Europe & Israel team regularly leads growth rounds in their portfolio.
Recent Activity
Eight Roads has remained highly active across all four regional teams through 2024–2026:
Europe & Israel:
- February 2025: Led Swan's €42M round for embedded finance expansion across Europe
- June 2024: Invested in Odaseva's $54M Series C (Salesforce data security)
- July 2024: Invested in Hero Software (vertical SaaS for tradesmen in Germany)
India:
- October 2024: Led Everstage's $30M Series B (sales performance management platform)
- October 2024: Participated in SPRY Therapeutics' $15M Series A (physical therapy SaaS)
- December 2024: Invested in Laurus Bio (biomanufacturing / precision fermentation platform)
China:
- July 2025: Participated in Pony.ai's $102M follow-on Series A (autonomous driving)
Japan:
- Multiple exits: Xbit joined SmartHR Group (May 2026), Salowin joined Hulic Co. (June 2026), J-Pharma listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market (March 2026)
Portfolio Highlights
Eight Roads has backed some of the most prominent technology and healthcare companies globally:
Iconic investments:
- Alibaba (early investment, China, e-commerce)
- AppsFlyer (Israel, marketing attribution, major SaaS unicorn)
- Icertis (India, contract intelligence, billion-dollar enterprise software company)
- PharmEasy (India, digital health unicorn)
- Paidy (Japan, buy-now-pay-later fintech, acquired by PayPal)
- Neo4j (Europe, world-leading graph database)
- Hibob (Israel/Europe, modern HR platform)
Notable recent portfolio:
- Everstage (India, #1 rated sales compensation platform on G2 and Gartner)
- Swan (France, Europe's leading embedded finance platform)
- Pony.ai (China, autonomous vehicle pioneer)
- Shadowfax (India, last-mile delivery network)
- Whatfix (India, digital adoption platform, raised $125M)
- Northern Arc Capital (India, publicly listed financial services company)
- Red Points (Spain, brand protection software)
Team
- Alex Emery, President (global leadership)
- Dr. Prem Pavoor, Managing Partner, India — leads the India Ventures team, extensive experience in healthcare and technology investing in India
- Aditya Systla, Partner, India — led the Everstage Series B investment; specializes in enterprise SaaS and RevOps
- Lucile Cornet, Partner, Europe & Israel — led investment in Hero Software; has published insights on vertical SaaS and $100M ARR paths for SME-focused companies
Decision Process
Eight Roads operates through regional partnership teams with local investment decision-making authority. Each regional team (China, Europe & Israel, India, Japan) has its own managing partners and investment committee. This distributed model allows for fast, locally-informed investment decisions. The firm does not publicly disclose detailed decision timelines but its track record with prominent companies suggests a thorough, conviction-driven approach.
Geographic Focus
Eight Roads invests exclusively in Asia (China, India, Japan) and Europe/Israel. The US market is served by sister fund F-Prime Capital (formerly Fidelity Biosciences), which operates independently from the same founding entity. Founders seeking Eight Roads capital must be building companies with presence or significant ambitions in Asia, Europe, or Israel.
Offices: London (global HQ), Bangalore, Mumbai, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo.
Associated Funds and Co-investors
Eight Roads operates alongside a network of associated funds that it co-invests with or has established: 6 Dimensions Capital (China life sciences), Anterra Capital (food/agriculture), Arbor Ventures (fintech/data, Asia), ClearVue Partners (Greater China consumer), HealthXCapital (Southeast Asia healthcare), Jungle Ventures (Southeast Asia), Volition Capital (US growth equity).
Frequent co-investors include Sequoia Capital China, F-Prime Capital, Flourish Ventures, Lakestar, Accel, and Creandum.