PharmEasy, one of the largest pharmacy aggregator’s in India is in talks with Nandan Nilekani and Sanjeev Aggarwal-led investment firm Fundamentum Advisors and Eight Roads Ventures, the proprietary investment arm of Fidelity Investment to raise ₹276-₹344 crores ($40-50 million).
This funding round is expected to close over the next two weeks, the company’s existing investors anticipated to participate are Orios Venture Partners, Astarc Investors, JM Financial, and Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG). They are believed to have committed nearly ₹103 crores ($15 million).
The fresh funds are expected to be used towards growth and further development of the three-year-old company’s technology platform.
The company may be valued at ₹897 crores ($130 million) after the fundraising round, according to the sources. There is expected to be a third new strategic investor, which could add further ₹69 crores ($10 million) in the equity financing round.
PharmEasy, an online pharmacy, helps patients connect with local pharmacy stores and diagnostic centers to provide them with required medical aid. It was founded by Dharmil Seth and Dr. Dhaval Shah in 2015.
The company has a presence in 700 cities covering 2,000 pin codes with more than 150 partner vendors. It also claims to receive around 8,000 orders a day.
Dharmil Seth, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, PharmEasy, said, “We have been talking to a lot of investors to raise money. But nothing concrete yet. The next one year is going to be more of building the category and acquiring more customers from across every geography in India. We are looking to grow at least five times considering the space is still very nascent”.
PharmEasy had earlier raised ₹196 crores ($30 million) in series C funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
According to an IBEF report, Indian Pharmaceutical industry was pegged at $33 billion in 2017. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22.4% over 2015-2020. Also, the Indian healthcare market is expected to touch $280 billion by the end of 2020, from the current $100 billion.
Other players in the healthtech domain competing with PharmEasy include MedPlus, 1mg, NetMeds, Zoctr, Lybrate, Tricog, among many others.