Ritik Gupta
API Holdings, which owns PharmEasy, has raised $323 million as part of its Series E round from Prosus Ventures (formerly Naspers Ventures) and TPG Growth. Existing investors Temasek, CDPQ, LGT Lightrock, Eight Roads, and Think Investments have also participated in the round, consisting of direct and secondary investments. The startup, which was valued at $1.5 billion for the funding round, now enters the coveted unicorn club, said two people, requesting nowheresville.
According to API Holdings, the fresh capital will help it expand its footprint in existing markets. It plans to partner with over 100,000 pharmacies within the next 12 months. Besides, it will increase its service offerings for both healthcare practitioners and patients.
“We have been able to not only provide consumers with much faster and easier access to the healthcare products and services they need, but that we have been able to do so by empowering and digitizing 60,000 small pharmacy stores that provide such an essential service to the Indian public,” Siddharth Shah, co-founder and chief executive, API Holdings, said.
API Holdings claims to connect over 60,000 brick-and-mortar pharmacies and 4,000 doctors in 16,000 zip codes across India. It digitizes and organizes supply chains for its pharmacy partners to help them access affordable and authentic products.
The group also provides software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings to pharmacies for procurement, delivery, and logistics support. It also offers credit solutions to pharmacies, assisting them in buying over 200,000 medicines from around 3,000 pharmaceutical manufacturers.
“We are always looking for big areas of consumer spend that are ripe for disruption, and outpatient healthcare in India fits perfectly within that remit. API Holdings has built a comprehensive solution that meets the needs of key players in the healthcare ecosystem in India,” said Ashutosh Sharma, head, India Investments, Prosus Ventures.
Through its consumer digital healthcare offerings, API Holdings claims to cater to two million patients every month and has served over 20 million patients since it was launched.
