As indicated in its annual financial statements filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), the telehealth platform Truemeds was growing at rapid rates, doubling its gross revenue to Rs 315 crore in FY24 from Rs 154 crore in FY23. The Mumbai-based company also managed to reduce losses by 9% during the same period.
Founded by Akshat Nayyar and Kunal Wani, the startup enables consumers to upload prescriptions to find alternative branded medicines. Sales of medicines and medical devices were 98.4% of operating income, which was up 102% this year at Rs 310 crore in FY24.
Shipping revenue stood at Rs 1.7 crore, while packaging revenue accounted for Rs 2.8 crore. In addition, Rs 10 crore was earned from interest on deposits, leading to total income of Rs 325 crore for FY24, against Rs 161 crore for FY23.
Procurement of medicines and devices as expenses under the telehealth platform accounted for 67.8% of the total expenses. To scale up the operations, the cost grew by 96%, reaching Rs 262 crore in FY24. Employee benefits too rose 75% in FY24, amounting to Rs 42 crore.
Other cost components, such as advertising, rent, IT, legal, and overhead expenses of the company, contributed to total expenses growing by 74.7% and increasing from Rs 221 crore in FY23 to Rs 386 crore in FY24. A detailed breakdown of the company expenses can be found at TheKredible.
Good growth coupled with rational cost management allowed Truemeds to further decrease its losses by 9% to Rs 61 crore in FY24 from Rs 67 crore in FY23. On a unit level, the company generated every rupee of FY24 revenue at a cost of Rs 1.23. Truemeds has also improved its ROCE and EBITDA margins to -27.6% and -18.15%, respectively. Total current assets were reported to be Rs 253 crore at the end of FY24; Rs 155 crore came from cash and bank balances.
So far, Truemeds has raised over $27 million with the most recent being a $22 million Series B round led by WestBridge Capital in 2022. TheKredible states that the biggest external investor is Info Edge with a 25.25% stake in the company.
Truemeds competes with direct competitors such as PharmEasy, Tata 1mg, Netmeds, and Apollo 247.
With a user-friendly interface and increasingly urgent demand to bring down medical cost, Truemeds now enjoys tremendous traction, becoming an important distribution channel for several smaller pharma companies. But, intense competition and market threats like chemists' lobbying, remain a contending risk to the company. Keeping in mind that, its investors will likely welcome the high growth in topline revenues, and great performance in terms of loss management.
