Westbridge Capital Leads $22 Mn Series B Funding In Truemeds

SUMMARY

The round also saw participation from existing investors such as InfoEdge Ventures, Asha Impact and IAN Fund

With the fresh capital, the startup plans to expand its coverage across the country

Truemeds has plans to triple its fulfilment centres across the country in the next six months

Healthtech startup truemeds has raised $22 Mn in a Series B funding led by Westbridge Capital. The round also saw participation from existing investors such as InfoEdge Ventures, Asha Impact and IAN Fund.

With the fresh capital, the startup plans to expand its coverage across the country as it wants to accelerate growth in the untapped domestic market.

Founded by Akshat Nayyar and Kunal Wani, Truemeds focuses on recommending value alternative brands to chronic patients. The Mumbai-based startup provides free delivery of the suggested brands.

Akshat Nayyar, cofounder and CEO of Truemeds is of the view that India is one of the very few markets where there is a pseudo-categorisation of medicines in branded and generic-generic to create different price tiers between them.

“95% of the drugs sold in India are off-patent (thus technically generics). There is absolutely no difference in the scientific composition of generics and branded drugs,” Nayyar said, as quoted in media reports.

He also pointed out that the Indian generic-generic market is growing at 1.5 times the overall pharmaceutical market and following the US landscape where the generics prescription share moved from 40% in 2005 to over 85% in 2019.

“The market move towards generics is inevitable and Truemeds will lead that change,” Nayyar stated.

Last year, the healthtech startup raised $5 Mn in a Series A funding round led by InfoEdge Ventures, Asha Impact and Indian Angel Network.

Currently, Truemeds has its presence in Maharashtra. It claims to fulfill more than 100,000 orders every month. Further, it has plans to triple its fulfilment centres across the country in the next six months for better customer experience and reach.

In the wake of the pandemic, the healthtech sector in India has seen a massive growth in the last two years. According to an Inc42 report, the startups in this sector received $2.2 Bn in funding across 131 deals in 2021, while it minted four unicorns in the year.

The healthtech market in India is estimated to grow at 27% CAGR to $21.3 Bn by 2025, accounting for more than 3% share of the global market.