The owner of India-based online healthcare and medicine delivery platform PharmEasy is reportedly contemplating a Mumbai initial public offering (IPO) that could generate up to $1 billion, according to a Tuesday (Aug. 10) Bloomberg report.
PharmEasy is India’s largest digital drugstore chain. The company is owned by API Holdings Pvt.
In addition to fulfilling online medicine orders, PharmEasy also provides diagnostic tests and other health products, offering various discounts based on categories, according to its website. PharmEasy was founded in 2015 and headquartered in Mumbai. Since its inception, the company has fulfilled more than 15 million orders and has served upwards of 5 million customers, according to the company website.
Tuesday’s news follows a recent PYMNTS report that SoftBank Group was in discussion to offer financial support to the tune of $150 million to $200 million to API Holdings. At the time, PharmEasy’s owner was eyeing a minimum valuation of $5.6 billion. The company had envisioned going public within the next year or so, according to PYMNTS.
Read more: SoftBank Looks To Back India’s Biggest Digital Pharmacy Chain
API has received funding support along the way, recently closing a $500 million Series F funding round, which pushed the company’s valuation to nearly $4 billion. PharmEasy recently purchased a $610 million majority stake in Thyrocare Technologies, an Indian chain of diagnostic and preventive care laboratories, according to PYMNTS.
If funding efforts are any indication, the digital healthcare business is booming. In the first half of 2021 alone, online health companies such as behavioral weight loss program Noom and Ro, an online pharmacy, generated $14.7 billion in funding — more than all the funding raised in 2020.
In terms of PharmEasy’s funding opportunity, Bloomberg notes that the company has received financial support from TPG and Temasek Holdings Pte and intends to submit a draft prospectus by the end of October. An IPO could be possible by March, the news outlet reported.
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