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Accel eyes stake in India’s Truemeds at $330 million valuation | TechCrunch


Based on half a dozen sources, Accel, the worldwide enterprise agency, is in superior discussions to steer a funding spherical of $30 million to $40 million in Truemeds, an Indian on-line pharmacy that’s centered on offering prospects with extra reasonably priced generic alternate options to pricey branded drugs.

The talks are presently centered on a proposed valuation of about $330 million for the six-year-old, Mumbai-headquartered startup, per these identical sources, who requested anonymity because the deliberations are ongoing and personal.

The deal hasn’t finalized, so it might nonetheless not materialize or the phrases can change, the sources cautioned. Accel and Truemeds didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.

The potential spherical for Truemeds comes amid a interval of consolidation and upheaval within the on-line pharmacy trade. Pharmeasy, backed by Prosus Ventures, has seen its valuation plummet from a peak of $5.6 billion to beneath $600 million after struggling to repay a mortgage to Goldman Sachs. 

Janus Henderson, the British American world asset agency, implied a valuation of about $458 million for Pharmeasy on the finish of June, in line with its most up-to-date mutual fund disclosures. In 2021, Tata Digital acquired 1mg, one other main participant within the area.

In contrast to its rivals, Truemeds is taking a barely totally different strategy. The startup goals to disrupt the provision chain of how medication reaches prospects, eliminating middlemen that inflate the ultimate worth. After prospects add their prescriptions, Truemeds medical doctors advocate generics with the identical energetic elements, produced by Indian producers. This service goals to scale back medicine prices, notably for these with continual situations requiring ongoing therapy.

The platform operates completely on-line, with consultations, ordering, and supply all dealt with digitally. This eliminates the necessity for sufferers to go to bodily pharmacies and permits Truemeds to succeed in prospects in distant areas. 

If the brand new funding materializes, it could greater than double Truemeds’ valuation, which was $132 million in an prolonged Collection B spherical final 12 months. The startup initially raised the Collection B funding from traders together with WestBridge Capital and Data Edge Ventures at a valuation of $76.7 million, in line with Tracxn, a enterprise perception platform.