Blackstone’s growth unit hires ex-Navab, ex-Carlyle exec Ram Jagannath to run healthcare efforts

Ram Jagannath, who was set to join a firm launched by former KKR executive Alex Navab, has joined Blackstone Group to lead healthcare efforts for its new growth-equity strategy, according to people familiar with the matter.

Jagannath left Carlyle Group in April to join Navab Capital Partners; however, the firm announced it would be winding down and called off plans to raise a fund after founder Navab unexpectedly died in July.

Jagannath will report to Senior Managing Director Jon Korngold, who Blackstone hired in January to head up Blackstone Growth (BXG), its new growth-equity investing platform. Korngold most recently worked as head of financial services for General Atlantic, having first joined the Greenwich, Connecticut, growth equity firm in 2001.

“Ram is a seasoned investor with an impressive track record in identifying great companies and helping entrepreneurs scale their businesses. With his addition, we are excited about the opportunity to leverage the global reach and resources of the Blackstone platform to continue building a leader among growth equity investors,” Korngold said in a statement provided to Buyouts.

“Healthcare, in particular, is a sector undergoing immense technological transformation on a global basis and we look forward to Ram’s leading our growth equity investing efforts in this area,” Korngold said.

Jagannath, who has joined Blackstone as a senior managing director, appears to be the first new senior member addition to Blackstone since Korngold was brought on earlier this year.

During his 12 years at Carlyle Jagannath worked broadly across the healthcare sector, most recently as a managing director. The investor was involved with current and prior Carlyle investments including One Medical Group, Pharmaceutical Product Development, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Healthscope and HCR ManorCore.

Before joining Carlyle, Jagannath worked at Genstar Capital and Tailwind Capital, the latter which was then known as Thomas Weisel Capital Partners.

Buyouts reported earlier this year that Blackstone’s new growth unit intended to invest beyond fintech across all sectors and geographies. The platform will focus on companies that are between early-stage venture and traditional buyouts.

Korngold is best known for his track record in financial services, and specifically fintech. Before pivoting to financial services, Korngold led GA’s global healthcare practice.

The growth team is expected to raise a dedicated fund, though it’s not clear how much it will target, a source familiar with the matter said.

In other recent healthcare industry moves, longtime executive Jim Momtazee recently left KKR more than two decades after joining the global buyout firm.

Ali Satvat and Max Lin, already partners and senior leaders of the healthcare team, stepped up to co-lead KKR’s healthcare efforts in the Americas, Buyouts reported

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