New investors in talks to join PharmEasy’s pre-IPO funding round

Bengaluru: A new set of investors, including hedge fund Steadview Capital, IIFL and a US hedge fund are in talks to join the pre-IPO (initial public offering) funding round at e-pharmacy PharmEasy, sources aware of the matter said. The company has also finalised a secondary transaction of around $100 million in which some existing investors, such as Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani's venture fund Fundamentum, Eight Roads Ventures and Bessemer Venture Partners will make a partial exit.

ET had reported last month that PharmEasy was close to raising $200 million in primary capital from investors based out of the US and Southeast Asia but was trying to stitch up a secondary deal before filing its draft prospectus for an IPO. With this, PharmEasy parent API Holdings is in the final stages of closing a $300 million funding before filing its draft IPO papers later this month.

The new investors are in talks to invest in the current round through both primary and secondary share sales, the sources added. In a secondary transaction, existing investors sell some or all their shares to new investors and the money doesn’t go to the company’s coffers. In primary funding, the company gets capital by issuing fresh shares.