How a 15-min chat stretched for 3 hours resulting in a historic deal

For PharmEasy, sealing the deal with Thyrocare was no cakewalk.

Last month, API Holdings, the parent company of the healthtech unicorn, acquired a 66.1 percent stake in Thyrocare from Dr A Velumani and affiliates at a price of Rs 1,300 per share, aggregating to Rs 4,546 crore.

The acquisition made history as it marked the first time a publicly-listed company was acquired by a unicorn, and the team worked day and night to achieve this feat.

In an interaction with YourStory, Siddharth Shah, Co-founder and CEO, PharmEasy, tells how a 15-minute chat with Dr A Velumani, Founder of Thyrocare, turned into a three-hour discussion ending in cementing the deal — and they had to close it in a matter of just a month.

"And Dr Velumani was telling me what we had done in 8 years and 11 months, we have to do that same amount in a month. And I don’t know what got into me. I said the deal will be done by June 30,” says Siddharth.

The Thyrocare deal is significant as it comes amid the COVID-19 pandemic which has made people pay attention to their health.

Read all about how the Indian startup ecosystem is battling the second wave of COVID-19 here.

Here are some useful tools to help you find the nearest vaccine centres in real-time.

You can also share a tribute to COVID-19 warriors, saviours, and survivors here.

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News & Updates

• Zomato has approached the CCI to acquire a 9.3 percent stake in e-grocery startup Grofers, revealed the order, a copy of which YourStory has seen. 

• Monthly transactions on the UPI platform hit a new high for June after seeing a consistent decline in the previous two months amidst the second COVID-19 wave. According to the NPCI, June’s total transaction value stood at Rs 5,47,373.17 crore, nearly a 10 percent increase.

• Flipkart on Thursday announced the launch of Shopsy, an app that will enable Indians to start their online businesses without any investment.

• A Bain & Co report states that agritech and agri-ecosystem sectors have received significant interest from the investor community, making India the third-largest country in terms of agritech funding and the number of agritech startups.

Before you go, stay inspired with… 

“I think healthcare will become the front and centre of everything we do. And as that grows, the focus on outpatient will be stronger.”

— Siddharth Shah, Co-founder and CEO, PharmEasy

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