Mumbai, 2 OctoberThe pharmaceutical and online pharmacy space seems to heating up on private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) deals. As of end-September, the e-pharmacy space, for example, has seen a 210 per cent jump in deal value, compared to full calendar year 2017. Similarly, nine deals in the pharmaceutical space have surpassed the cumulative deal size for all of 2017.Data from Venture Intelligence shows e-pharmacy had a total of seven deals during January to September, the cumulative value being $115 milion (Rs 8.3 billion). The corresponding period last year had seen only three deals, for a total value of $23 mn. For all of 2017, the space witnessed five deals, totalling $37 mn. Some of the key deals were PharmEasy and Netmeds raising funds from Eight Roads Ventures India, Think Investments, Sistema Asia Fund and others. "PE investors were already active in other sectors. Education and pharmacy were two sectors that saw some initial resistance from investors. However, ...
