Truemeds Secures $85M Funding to Tackle India's Medicine Affordability Challenge
India, with its huge population of chronic disease sufferers (we're talking over 400 million!), represents a massive market for medicines. However, most online pharmacies seem obsessed with speed, when the real hurdle is affordability. That's where Truemeds comes in, and their unique approach is paying off big time.
This company is focusing on helping patients switch to less expensive generic substitutes. This strategy is apparently working wonders, as they just secured a whopping $85 million in funding – valuing them at roughly four times their previous valuation! That's a pretty impressive jump, if you ask me.
Founded in 2019, Truemeds walked into a crowded online pharmacy space already filled with players offering deep discounts on branded generics. Instead of trying to beat everyone at their own game, they chose to focus on generic medicines.
Akshat Nayyar, Truemeds co-founder, pointed out that there was no one in the market educating users about more affordable options. That's the gap they decided to fill. By recommending generic alternatives to branded medicines, they're helping consumers save some serious cash. After all, generic drugs are usually cheaper because they are way more efficient during development.
According to Truemeds, this differentiated approach has been a game-changer. Their revenue grew over 66% year-over-year, hitting ₹5 billion ($57 million) in the last financial year. They claim to retain over 50% of their revenue after 12 months, serving an average of 500,000 customers monthly, with a total of 3 million customers to date. Plus, over 75% of their customers are coming from smaller cities and towns.
One challenge? Convincing customers to ditch their trusted brands for generics. As Nayyar said, "when you suddenly see a lower price, you want to know why it is low." It's all about building that trust and showing people the value.
While other e-pharmacies were busy chasing faster delivery, Truemeds went the opposite direction, increasing their average discounts. The result? An average user who switches brands on their platform saves around 47% on their medicine.
So, what's next for Truemeds? They're planning to develop an AI-based system to personalize conversations with customers based on their behavior and past experiences with generic alternatives. They are also planning to expand into diagnostics via partnerships. Their end goal is making healthcare affordable.
Source: TechCrunch