- Online pharmacy company Capsule announced it raised $200 million in funding to expand to other large cities across the U.S.
Capsule — an online pharmacy company — announced it raised $200 million to expand to other large cities across the U.S. such as New York, according to Bloomberg. This round of funding was led by TCV. And existing investors Thrive Capital and Glade Brook Capital Partners also joined the round.
Based on a funding round in June 2018, Capsule hit a valuation of around $110 million (PitchBook). The current valuation of the company based on this funding round is unknown.
Capsule delivers prescription drugs to local patients within two hours of getting ordered from the app. And the company is applying for pharmacy licenses in more states. Currently, Capsule has 60,000 customers in New York.
“We are going to be in all of the major cities in the next 18 to 36 months,” said Capsule founder and CEO Eric Kinariwala via Bloomberg.
Capsule competes against retail giants like CVS Health and Walgreens Boots Alliance. Plus it also rivals against PillPack, which is a mail order pharmacy service that Amazon acquired for $753 million last year.
Kinariwala launched Capsule in 2015 following a negative experience at a chain pharmacy. While Kinariwala was sick with a sinus infection, he waited nearly an hour at a basement pharmacy for medicine. But the pharmacy did not end up having the medicine that was prescribed.
The Capsule app provides users with information on their co-payment and the side effects of the drugs. Plus the app allows them to ask a pharmacist questions through secure chat or text.
And Capsule’s software also makes prescribing medicine easier for doctors. And it allows doctors to set up refill preferences and specify alternate drugs if the insurance of a patient will not cover the first option.
