PharmEasy, an Indian online pharmacy startup that once boasted a valuation of $5.6 billion, is currently estimated to be around 92% lower than its peak, as indicated by updated figures from its investor, Janus Henderson.
The British investment firm revealed these insights in a securities filing. According to its adjusted PharmEasy share valuation, the startup was implied to be worth approximately $458 million by the end of June.
This news might come as a shock: PharmEasy initiated a rights issue in 2023 aiming to raise $300 million, which was later increased to $417 million. The rights issue—offering existing investors the chance to purchase new shares at a significantly lower valuation—was reportedly oversubscribed, as mentioned by PharmEasy co-founder Dharmil Sheth in a LinkedIn update.
An April 2024 regulatory filing revealed that the startup had secured around $216 million. Even prior to the rights issue, investors had begun devaluing their shares in PharmEasy. Janus Henderson’s latest valuation assessment indicates that PharmEasy is now valued at less than the $600 million+ it spent to acquire diagnostic lab chain Thyrocare in 2021.
PharmEasy, which counts Temasek, TPG, B Capital, and Prosus among its backers, has yet to respond to a request for comment, while Janus has also opted not to share statements.
Having raised about $1 billion to date, PharmEasy provides a variety of services beyond medicine delivery, including wellness tools, information, consultations, diagnostic tests, and treatment deliveries.
The once-promising startup filed for an $843 million IPO in November 2021 but later postponed those plans. Instead, PharmEasy sought to support its rapid growth through debt financing. A $300 million loan from Goldman Sachs ultimately became burdensome as the company faced difficulties in repaying the principal and raising additional equity funds amid a shift in market conditions.
“There has been ample discussion and commentary about us. We typically choose not to engage and focus instead on doing what is best for our team, shareholders, and the company. It’s easier to write about these entities as they become ‘entities at the end.’ We often overlook that behind these entities are real people with genuine effort, struggles, and more. Cheers to what the team has accomplished over the past year—achieving the seemingly impossible,” stated Sheth in his earlier LinkedIn post commenting.
Numerous investors globally are reassessing the value of their startup holdings; for instance, 360 One, an investor in Indian news aggregator Dailyhunt, informed its LPs that it now values the company at $2.9 billion, a notable drop from approximately $5 billion previously, as reported by TechCrunch last week.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
Fanpage: TechArena.au
Watch more about AI – Artificial Intelligence
