PharmEasy's 4 out of 5 co-founders are exiting the company
20 Jan 2025

Dharmil Sheth, Dhaval Shah, Harsh Parekh, and Hardik Dedhia have announced their exit from API Holdings, the parent company of online pharmacy PharmEasy.

This leaves Siddharth Shah as the only remaining founder and CEO of the firm.

The four exiting founders together hold less than 2% stake in PharmEasy, information from private markets data provider Tracxn shows.

A look at PharmEasy's journey and leadership changes
Company evolution

PharmEasy was founded in 2015 by Sheth and Dhaval Shah as an online medicine delivery platform.

In 2020, it merged with Ascent Health, a top offline pharmaceutical distribution company, to become API Holdings.

After the merger, the leadership comprised Parekh and Dedhia from Ascent Health and Siddharth. Now, in 2025, most of these co-founders are resigning from their positions at the company.

Transition in leadership was planned post-funding round
Leadership transition

The exit of the four co-founders has been in the works since PharmEasy's previous funding round in April 2024. Siddharth will remain at the helm of the company as CEO. Their future plans are not known at this point.

PharmEasy's financial struggles
Financial challenges

PharmEasy struggled financially after breaching covenants on a $300 million loan from Goldman Sachs in 2023.

The loan was taken to finance Thyrocare's $600 million acquisition in 2021.

Although it raised funds last year, the capital infusion came at a steep discount.

Its valuation plummeted by nearly 90% when it raised $216 million in April 2024 from Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG), Prosus, Temasek, and 360 One.

Valuation markdown and IPO plans
Future prospects

PharmEasy's valuation was slashed further to $458 million by September 2024, global asset firm Janus Henderson reported.

This is a whopping 92% drop from its peak valuation of $5.6 billion in 2021.

The company had earlier delayed its plans for an $843 million IPO after filing draft papers with SEBI in November 2021, amid tough market conditions.

Despite setbacks, the CEO has said the company intends to go public but hasn't given a timeline yet.