Clinical research organisation Veeda Clinical Research on Thursday said it has raised $16 million (Rs 118.5 crore) in a new funding round led by private equity firm Sabre Partners and is also planning to go public.
Veeda said in a statement that it is in the process of filing a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for the initial public offering (IPO).
The proposed IPO is subject to requisite approvals, market conditions and other considerations in the near future, it said without furnishing further details.
In the latest funding round, others include prominent high net worth individuals (HNIs) such as Pranab Mody (of JB Chemicals); the family office of Havells India; and Nikhil Vora, founder of consumer focused venture capital firm Sixth Sense Ventures.
Ajay Tandon, managing director of Veeda, said that the company will continue to invest in developing its delivery capabilities.
Launched in 2004, Veeda offers pharmaceutical drug development services besides contract research facilities. The firm boasts custom-built and clinical research infrastructure to facilitate research. It offers services such as central bioanalytical services, glucose clamp studies, clinical trials, complex and elemental bioanalysis, biosimilars immunogenicity studies and pharmacovigilance services.
Veeda had posted net sales of Rs 218.44 crore for the fiscal ended 31 March 2020 as compared with Rs 189.04 crore the previous financial year, according to VCCEdge. Net profit rose from Rs 46.69 crore to Rs 52.61 crore during the period.
Rajiv Maliwal, founder and managing partner of Sabre Partners, said that the clinical research organisation industry is witnessing rapid growth resulting from a confluence of economic and regulatory tailwinds.
"We believe Veeda is well positioned to capitalise this opportunity as one of the largest independent full service clinical research organisations by revenue in India as of 31 March 2021," he added.
Prior to this funding, Veeda had raised private equity funding from a consortium of private equity investors led by CX Partners in 2018.
Earlier this year, it had acquired a significant minority stake in Bengaluru-based pre-clinical research firm Bioneeds India Pvt Ltd.
