By Ray de Bono, Editor-in-Chief
As Portugal’s Golden Visa evolves beyond real estate, investors are increasingly exploring regulated fund routes that offer both portfolio diversification and exposure to long-term global themes. One sector attracting sustained attention is healthcare, where demographic ageing, rising chronic disease, and system-wide inefficiencies are accelerating demand for the help of innovation to improve access, the quality and affordability of healthcare.
In this interview, I spoke with Shabir Chowdhary, Founding Partner at RYSE Asset Management, a London-based healthcare venture platform focused on early-stage and growth-stage HealthTech and MedTech companies. With a career spanning biochemistry, investment banking, and institutional fund management, Chowdhary brings an uncommon blend of scientific literacy and financial structuring expertise to healthcare investing.
“For many investors, this combination, healthcare innovation aligned with a long-term global mobility strategy, represents a compelling evolution beyond traditional property-based Golden Visa investments“
– Shabir Chowdhary
We also discuss how Windsor Capital Management supports international high-net-worth (HNW) clients in citizenship and residency by investment, and how the partnership framework helps connect global mobility needs with alternative investment strategies, including Golden Visa-eligible fund structures.
𝑸&𝑨 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
🗨️ 1) Shabir, before we get into RYSE, can you share your personal journey – how did your scientific background evolve into finance and ultimately healthcare venture investing?
𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒓 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒅𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒚:I started out as a biochemist at Imperial College in the mid-90s. After leaving Imperial, I worked briefly for a pharmaceutical company in Sweden, but I quickly realised R&D wasn’t for me – the lab environment and long hours didn’t align with my longer-term aspirations.
I returned to London and joined the City, spending the following years at investment banks including Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch, both in London and New York. That gave me strong exposure to public markets, how companies are valued, how capital is allocated, and how healthcare and pharma interact with financial markets.
In 2000, I went back to Imperial to study an MBA focused on finance and entrepreneurship. I then returned to banking, and in 2004 I left to build an asset management business in public markets. We launched our first fund around convertible bond arbitrage and scaled that business to over USD 4 billion under management, managing capital for US endowments, foundations, pension funds, and other institutions.
Over time, that enabled me to invest in earlier-stage companies, and healthcare became one of the areas I felt most compelled to focus on.
🗨️2) What convinced you that healthcare needed this level of innovation – and that venture-backed solutions could make a meaningful difference?
𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒓 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒅𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒚: Healthcare systems globally are under intense pressure. I was particularly focused on NHS England, which delivers the vast majority of healthcare services in the UK, yet operates under intense financial and other pressures.
Budgets were being cut, clinicians were leaving, and at the same time, populations are ageing and chronic disease is rising. The infrastructure simply wasn’t built for this. The only way forward is to improve efficiency, access, and affordability through innovation.
🗨️3) How did RYSE come about?
𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒓 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒅𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒚: RYSE was born from a desire to support founders driving innovation in healthcare. In 2017, we partnered with NHS England in a public-private programme that ran for three years.
We identified technologies that could improve operational efficiency and reduce cost burdens in real healthcare settings. Importantly, clinicians could remain within the NHS while we supported them with capital and company-building expertise.
🗨️ 4) Can you give a tangible example of the kind of innovation RYSE supports?
𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒓 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒅𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒚: One example is a company that developed a medical device that attaches to a smartphone, enabling clinicians to assess skin lesions using AI within minutes. The company now operates across multiple NHS Trusts and holds a nationwide NHS England contract – saving lives through earlier cancer diagnosis.
🗨️ 5) Where does Portugal come into the picture—and why now?
Shabir Chowdhary: After the success of our UK-based RYSE Special Opportunities Fund, Portugal emerged as a natural next step. It allows us to offer a healthcare-focused alternative investment strategy that is not dependent on real estate – particularly relevant after Golden Visa reforms.
Portugal also offers compelling healthcare fundamentals. For instance, one of our women’s health portfolio companies conducted clinical trials in Portugal, achieving FDA approval with the aid of Portuguese clinical data – at a fraction of the cost of US or UK trials.
We identified technologies that could improve operational efficiency and reduce cost burdens in real healthcare settings.
🗨️ 6) Beyond cost, what makes Portugal strategically compelling for HealthTech and MedTech?
Shabir Chowdhary: Portugal has a strong academic and research ecosystem, an abundance of life-sciences graduates, competitive operating costs, and meaningful government support for innovation. It also benefits from strong international connectivity, making it an attractive base for healthcare innovation.
🗨️7) Which healthcare subsectors do you believe will define the next decade?
𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒓 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒅𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒚: Women’s health and mental health remain highly active areas. Over the medium to long term, cardiovascular disease and oncology will be defining sectors due to their global cost burden.
We focus on software-driven healthcare businesses with faster regulatory pathways and exit horizons typically between three and seven years.
🗨️8) How do partnerships with organisations like NHS England and global healthcare players help manage early-stage risk?
Shabir Chowdhary: These partnerships allow early validation in real clinical environments, reducing technology and market risk. They also open pathways for co-investment, licensing, and strategic exits – critical in early-stage healthcare investing.
🗨️9) How does Windsor Capital fit into this broader picture for international investors?
𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒓 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒅𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒚: Windsor Capital supports high-net-worth individuals through citizenship and residency-by-investment solutions. Beyond immigration, clients often seek trusted access to alternative investments. RYSE provides that healthcare investment exposure within a regulated framework aligned with global mobility objectives.
🗨️10) Finally, how should investors think about risk and return in a HealthTech and MedTech venture strategy – particularly when aligned with Portugal’s Golden Visa and its potential long-term residency or citizenship pathway?
𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒓 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒅𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒚: Investors need to consider both the investment profile and the immigration framework.
From an investment perspective, early-stage private markets carry risk, and these investments are not asset-backed. However, we mitigate this through deep sector expertise, early clinical validation, and a concentrated, hands-on portfolio approach.
From a residency perspective, the fund is structured to meet the requirements of Portugal’s Golden Visa programme, offering investors legal residency through a regulated investment fund route. Over time, and subject to statutory conditions, this residency can provide a pathway to permanent residence or Portuguese citizenship.
For many investors, this combination, healthcare innovation aligned with a long-term global mobility strategy, represents a compelling evolution beyond traditional property-based Golden Visa investments.
𝑩𝒊𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒚
Shabir Chowdhary is the Managing Partner and Founding Partner of RYSE Asset Management, a London-based healthcare venture investment platform focused on early-stage and growth-stage HealthTech and MedTech companies.
Trained as a biochemist at Imperial College London, Shabir later completed an MBA with a focus on finance and entrepreneurship. He began his career in international investment banking with Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, working across London and New York, before founding and scaling an institutional asset management business that grew to over USD 4 billion under management.
Across his career, Shabir has raised more than USD 4.5 billion and supported multiple successful investments and exits. At RYSE, he combines scientific insight with institutional-grade financial expertise to back innovations that improve healthcare access, efficiency, and outcomes globally.
Contacts:
- Personal LinkedIn Profile Link: Click Here
- Company Name: RYSE Asset Management LLP
- Address: 1 Knightsbridge Green, London, SW1X 7NE, UK
- URL: Link
- RYSE’s LinkedIn Profile Link: Click here
For more information on the RYSE Golden Opportunities Fund please see below contact info:
- E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected]
- Phone: +44(0)7790137662
