Truemeds aims to become household name for medicines at true prices: Founders

Truemeds founders Akshat Nayyar and Kunal Wani

Truemeds is a tele-health platform that helps patients with chronic diseases find top quality medicines in India at reasonable prices. According to the founders, its customers save an average of 47 percent on their monthly medicine bills and the company is determined to increase these savings to about 70 percent.

In an interview with Moneycontrol, founders Akshat Nayyar and Kunal Wani said they aim to use the $22 million raised from WestBridge Capital and other investors to accelerate growth and triple the number of fulfilment centres across the country in six months. Edited excerpts:

Q1: Take us through the journey of your company. How did you come up with the idea of Truemeds?

Akshat Nayyar: We founded Truemeds in 2019 to address a very big challenge among the Indian middle class, i.e., affordability of medicines. With over 25 crore (250 million) chronic patients needing medicines each month, India is one of the few major economies where 95 percent of the medicine spend is still out of pocket.

For an average Indian with chronic illnesses like diabetes or hypertension, medicine spend can be as high as 15-20 percent of their monthly income.

Truemeds was founded with the idea of reducing the burden of medicine bills by recommending best value alternative brands to chronic patients through its proprietary algorithm and free doctor teleconsultation.

In India, we have pseudo-categorisation of medicines in branded and generic categories to create different price tiers between them. Ninety-five percent 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. However, patients are unable to make purchase decisions based on their price range. They are either unaware or don’t feel empowered to decide brands for themselves. After all it is a matter of health, right?

This is where we come in. We help patients find top quality medicines manufactured by top 1 percent companies in India at reasonable prices.

My cofounder, Kunal Wani, and I spent close to nine months just vetting the idea with industry leaders and potential customers.

Q2: Truemeds aims to cut medicine bills to half. How realistic is this target? With lifestyle diseases increasing, health bills of families are rising.

Kunal Wani: This target is quite realistic and it can be seen with the numbers that we have been able to achieve. Currently, our patients on an average save 47 percent on their monthly medicine bills by using our service. We are determined to increase these savings to about 70 percent in the near future. That is a life-changing number for an average Indian chronic patient spending Rs 3,000-4,000 every month on medicines.

Q3: Truemeds closed its Series B funding by private equity fund WestBridge Capital and others at $22 million. Where do you plan to expand?

Nayyar: We intend to utilise the funds to accelerate growth in the untapped domestic market and expand our coverage across the country. Currently, we are operating primarily from Maharashtra. However, there is demand from all over the country to buy medicines at an affordable price. We therefore plan to triple our fulfilment centres across the country in the next six months.

Q4: What is the presence of the company in India and how many customers has it reached?

Wani: Truemeds currently operates from Maharashtra where it is fulfilling 1 lakh+ orders every month and growing rapidly. We have serviced 5 lakh+ customers till date. Our goal is to achieve 5x growth in this year and reach 5 lakh monthly orders by March 2023.

Q5: Tell us about the company’s valuation, funding details, expected revenue for this year and about the industry and your market share.

Nayyar: Truemeds has raised $22 million in its Series B round. This round was led by WestBridge Capital with participation from existing investors InfoEdge Ventures, Asha Impact and Indian Angel Network. The pharmaceutical industry is ~ $30 billion, growing in double digits every year… We have barely scratched the surface yet. Our goal is to make Truemeds a household name for medicines at true prices.

Q6: What is the customer base that you are targeting?

Wani: We are targeting every Indian customer who is suffering from chronic diseases and has been prescribed medicines. According to a study by the Union ministry of family and health welfare in 2020, two in every three senior citizens in India suffer from some or the other chronic disease and these patients are spending 15-20 percent of their monthly income on medicines. This clearly proves the size of our customer base.