40 Minute Mentor

Episode 285

March 26, 2025

Pooja Sikka: Launching the first mental health fund in partnership with the NHS

In today’s 40 Minute Mentor episode, our final episode of our VC feature series, we’re joined by Pooja Sikka, General Partner at KHP Ventures.

KHP Ventures is a collaboration between King’s College London, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The fund offers equity investments with Healthcare expertise for groundbreaking MedTech and digital startups.

In today’s episode, you’ll find out more about Pooja’s squiggly career into Venture, and KHP’s brand new mental health immersion programme.

“Half the globe is struggling with a mental health problem, and yet we really haven’t brought the best of technology to that problem yet.”

Pooja Sikka

Tune in to discover

➡️ A career in Healthcare [04:00]

➡️ Pooja’s squiggly journey into Venture [08:30]

➡️ Opportunities in Healthcare [14:35]

➡️ Building strong relationships with Founders [20:00]

➡️ The crucial skill of spotting talent [25:00]

➡️ Launching a new Mental Health fund [30:00]

➡️ Advice for Mental Health startup Founders [38:00]

➡️ The importance of authenticity in pitching [44:00]

Listen on

Helpful links

🎧 You may also enjoy:

Vegard Medbø: Building a portfolio valued at $4.8B with Antler

George Robson: Becoming a Partner at Sequoia at the age of 25

Molly Alter: Starting early in VC & building a transatlantic focus in vertical AI with Northzone

Enjoyed this episode?

Keep up to date with all our latest episodes, by hitting the subscribe button on your favourite podcast platform. And for any feedback on what you enjoy the most and ideas on what we can do to make 40 Minute Mentor even better, please leave us a review.