Online pharmacy retailer PharmEasy has raised Rs 1,804 crore, or $216 million, in a round led by Ranjan Pai’s Manipal Education and Medical Group and existing investors. The company has allotted 186.4 million convertible preference shares in total at an issue price of Rs 96.8 each, according to its RoC filings sourced from TheKredible.
But the funding round has dragged down its valuation by 90% to $710 million, from the peak valuation of $5.6 billion it had in 2021. Last year, several media reports had indicated that the company is looking to raise funds to pay its lender Goldman Sachs, who had lent about $285 million to the company to pay off an earlier debt taken during its Rs 4,546-crore Thyrocare acquisition.
Entrackr first reported the development, adding that Pai’s MEMG led the round with Rs 800 crore while Prosus, Temasek, and 360 One Portfolios pumped in Rs 221 crore, Rs 183 crore, and Rs 200 crore, respectively. CDPQ Private Equity, WSSS Investments, Goldman Sachs, and Evolution Debt Capital cumulatively participated with Rs 400 crore in the new investment.
Prior to this, the company had seen two valuation cuts last year by investors Janus Henderson, an UK-based asset management company and Neuberger Berman, an US-based independent investment management firm. Pharmeasy joins the list of startups that have raised capital in downrounds over the last one year, including unicorns such as Byju’s and Meesho.
Pharmeasy parent API Holdings had filed IPO papers in 2021 but it pulled it back a year later. In FY23, the company’s revenue rose to Rs 6,644 crore from Rs 5,729 crore in FY22, while it reduced its losses to Rs 2,289.8 crore compared to Rs 2,731.7 crore in FY22.
