Getty ImagesMumbai: Online pharmacy PocketPills, which caters to consumers in the Canadian market, has received $30 million in a Series B funding round led by Telus Ventures, with participation from WaterBridge Ventures.
“The deal values the company at $150 million,” a person with knowledge of the matter said.
PocketPills is expected to use the funds to broaden its product offerings and accelerate its national expansion plans in Canada.
The company said its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) was around 20-30%.
“We are dedicated to making pharmacy accessible, easy and affordable for all,” said Gulia, who is also chief executive officer of PocketPills.
WaterBridge, which has invested in PocketPills since its seed funding round in 2018, will hold around 11% stake in the company post-money. WaterBridge’s latest investment is the 10th from its recently raised $100 million second fund, which is primarily aimed at investing in Indian companies.
“In the recent past, several global SaaS (software-as-a-service) companies have been created within the India-US corridor with many hitting massive scale. PocketPills is a unique example of DevOps (Day 1) in India for a category leading B2C company in a large North American market like Canada,” said Manish Kheterpal, managing partner at WaterBridge Ventures, whose other leading investments include Atlan, Bijnis, Chalo, CityMall, Doubtnut, MagicPin, and Unacademy.
Rich Osborn, managing partner at Telus Ventures, said: “Our investment in digital pharmacy aligns with our mission to digitally transform Canada’s healthcare ecosystem through the power of technology and connect the virtual continuum of care to improve access, experiences, and outcomes for all.”
The Indian online pharmacy sector has seen heightened investor interest and consolidation. Last year, Reliance Industries acquired a majority equity stake in Netmeds for about Rs 620 crore. Tata Group is in talks to acquire 1mg, another e-pharmacy business, for $250 million. Pharmeasy, one of the biggest companies in this space, raised $220 million in a round led by Singapore’s Temasek in November last year.
“The deal values the company at $150 million,” a person with knowledge of the matter said.
The Vancouver-based e-pharmacy, founded in 2018 by Raj Gulia, Harj Samra and Abhinav Gupta, caters to a market that is expected to grow to $25 billion over the next five years. It has its development operations in India. The online pharmacy’s business-to-business arm also provides active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for integrators.
PocketPills is expected to use the funds to broaden its product offerings and accelerate its national expansion plans in Canada.
The company said its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) was around 20-30%.
“We are dedicated to making pharmacy accessible, easy and affordable for all,” said Gulia, who is also chief executive officer of PocketPills.
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WaterBridge, which has invested in PocketPills since its seed funding round in 2018, will hold around 11% stake in the company post-money. WaterBridge’s latest investment is the 10th from its recently raised $100 million second fund, which is primarily aimed at investing in Indian companies.
“In the recent past, several global SaaS (software-as-a-service) companies have been created within the India-US corridor with many hitting massive scale. PocketPills is a unique example of DevOps (Day 1) in India for a category leading B2C company in a large North American market like Canada,” said Manish Kheterpal, managing partner at WaterBridge Ventures, whose other leading investments include Atlan, Bijnis, Chalo, CityMall, Doubtnut, MagicPin, and Unacademy.
Rich Osborn, managing partner at Telus Ventures, said: “Our investment in digital pharmacy aligns with our mission to digitally transform Canada’s healthcare ecosystem through the power of technology and connect the virtual continuum of care to improve access, experiences, and outcomes for all.”
The Indian online pharmacy sector has seen heightened investor interest and consolidation. Last year, Reliance Industries acquired a majority equity stake in Netmeds for about Rs 620 crore. Tata Group is in talks to acquire 1mg, another e-pharmacy business, for $250 million. Pharmeasy, one of the biggest companies in this space, raised $220 million in a round led by Singapore’s Temasek in November last year.
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