New Delhi, Sept. 10 -- Startups building hardware to rewire brain chemistry or developing stem cell therapies for people going blind-those are the sort of niche healthtech firms early-stage investors are scouting for after years of mostly betting on general healthcare-related companies.

Half of the top 10 venture capital investments in healthcare startups since 2020 were in PharmEasy, an online marketplace for medicines and diagnostics services, data from Venture Intelligence show. But in the previous 18 months, VC investments have also flowed into companies like Innovaccer, Neuberg Diagnostics, and Qure.ai.

Innovaccer, which raised $275 million in January from investors including Kaiser Permanente, Capital Group, Banner Health, and Mic...