Indian drugmaker Cipla recently announced that it will acquire a 21.85% stake in health-tech startup GoApptiv in an all cash deal. This is reportedly Cipla’s second bet on any digital healthcare startup since last year.
In a stock-exchange filing, the company said it will acquire a 21.85% stake in GoApptiv for a cash consideration of ₹9Cr ($1.19 million).
The deal is expected to be completed in two stages. In the first stage, Cipla will subscribe to 15,392 compulsorily convertible preference shares (CCPS) and 6,927 equity shares. This will get closed within 30 days. In the second stage, Cipla will subscribe to 12,314 CCPS by the end of October this year.
GoApptiv was founded by Rajasekhar Parcha and Sreeram Venkitaraman at Mumbai. The company helps pharmaceutical companies to engage with channel partners and improve the reach of brands to smaller towns.
It also offers digital platforms for business tracking, customer relationship management, data integration, artificial intelligence/machine learning-based data analytics, patient support and assistance in India.
Cipla had earlier in February 2019, acquired a 11.71% stake in Wellthy Therapeutics Pvt Ltd for ₹10.5Cr. Cipla had said that the deal was part of its lnnoventia campaign that aims to encourage innovation-led entrepreneurship and harness disruptive ideas in healthcare.
Health tech startups in India have been receiving significant funding from venture capital and private equity investors over the years. The recent coronavirus pandemic has further boosted the interest of investors in the sector and the market has been witnessing bullish investments in health-tech companies by various investors.
Just earlier this week, HealthPlix Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs an artificial intelligence-based medical records platform, raised $6 million (Rs 45 crore) in its Series B funding round led by new investor JSW Ventures.
HrNxt.com Newsdesk has researchers and writers with an excellent domain knowledge about the talent ecosystem, and the business environment. The team keeps a tab on the latest happenings in the ecosystem to bring most relevant news and insights for our readers. You can connect with our newsdesk at newsdesk@hrnxt.com.