💊 $85M to Make Your Medicines Cheaper

☀️ Good morning, it’s Tuesday!

Monday’s markets had their “main character” moment — breaking a six-week losing streak in style. But with US inflation data brewing and trade negotiations simmering, today’s story could take a twist. We’ve got your morning fix of top headlines, market movers and global currents!

🫖 Chai Shots

• 🩺 Truemeds’ $85M dose for affordable care: Truemeds just raised a hefty $85 million to expand low-cost chronic care access across India. More in the Big Brew 👇

• 🇮🇳 India keeps trade talks on track despite tariff turbulence: Senior officials confirmed US–India trade deal negotiations are still alive, even after Washington’s latest round of tariff hikes. They stressed the levies weren’t targeted solely at India but part of a wider global policy shift.

• 🏨 Taj parent checks into midscale hotels with ₹204Cr Clarks buy: Tata Group’s Indian Hotels Company Ltd. (IHCL), best known for its Taj brand, will acquire 51% stakes in ANK Hotels and Pride Hospitality for a combined ₹204 crore. The deal adds 135 Clarks-branded properties across India and Sri Lanka, boosting IHCL’s midscale presence while sticking to its asset-light growth strategy.

• 📉 EaseMyTrip stock skid hits fresh record low: Shares of online travel platform EaseMyTrip plunged to an all-time intraday low of ₹8.76 before closing at ₹8.82, down 3.29% from the previous session. The stock has been in a steady decline since January, losing nearly 44% of its value this year, eroding its market cap from over $1 billion to about $356 million.

📈 Market Masala

• 📈 Broad rally revives indices: The Sensex jumped 746 points (0.93%) to 80,604 and the Nifty rose 222 points (0.91%) to 24,585. PSU banks led with a 2%+ surge, alongside strength in auto, metal, pharma, and realty stocks. Adani Enterprises, Tata Motors, and Grasim were among the top gainers, while consumer durables underperformed.

• 🏦 RBI distances itself from minimum balance hikes: Governor Sanjay Malhotra clarified that the central bank does not set minimum balance requirements — it’s up to individual banks. The comment comes after ICICI Bank raised the metro account threshold to ₹50,000, a sharp contrast to PSU banks like SBI, which have removed penalties altogether.

• 🏦 Tax bill to simplify rules and cut friction: The latest Income Tax Bill proposes several overhauls — letting companies under concessional rates claim dividend deductions under Section 80M, eliminating alternate minimum tax for LLPs, rewriting sections in plainer language, easing rules for trusts, and bringing MSME definitions in line with the MSME Act.

• 📊 Mutual funds post all-time highs in July: SIP inflows surged to ₹28,464 crore, equity inflows hit ₹42,702 crore, and total industry AUM reached ₹75.4 lakh crore — marking 53 straight months of net equity inflows despite global volatility.

🌏 Global Masala

• 📉 Wall Street cools ahead of CPI data: The Dow fell 200 points, S&P 500 slipped 0.25%, and Nasdaq dropped 0.3% as investors awaited July’s inflation print. Economists forecast a 2.8% annual rise, with recent US tariffs adding to pricing pressures.

• 🇨🇳 Tariff truce extended by 90 days: President Trump has delayed higher tariffs on Chinese imports, keeping US duties at 30% for now. Beijing’s 10% retaliatory tariffs remain, giving negotiators more time to reach a deal.

☕ The Big Brew: Truemeds’ $85M Bet on Redefining Affordable Healthcare

In India’s crowded e-pharmacy race—where most players are sprinting for “fastest delivery” bragging rights—Mumbai-based Truemeds has quietly been building a business around a different metric: how much money it can save patients without compromising care.

That approach just earned it $85 million in fresh funding, led by Accel and Peak XV Partners, with continued backing from WestBridge Capital and Info Edge Ventures. The deal pegs the company’s valuation at $400M+, nearly four times what it was just two years ago.

Here’s why investors are writing big cheques:

• 💊 Chasing savings, not seconds: Instead of battling rivals in the 10-minute delivery arena, Truemeds targets India’s 400+ million chronic patients—those managing long-term conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease—by recommending clinically equivalent generics over pricey branded drugs. For many, that means 50–70% lower monthly medicine costs, a game-changer in non-metro regions where healthcare budgets are razor-thin.

• 🏭 Scaling for reach, not just speed: The funding will fuel a 3x expansion in fulfillment centers (from 19 to 50) within a year, with a sharp focus on underserved Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. It’s also planting a Bengaluru tech hub to supercharge product and engineering capabilities.

• 📦 Planned care = better economics: Truemeds’ sweet spot is patients who can plan their purchases. By offering a 4-hour delivery model in major cities and leveraging cost-efficient logistics elsewhere, the company keeps burn low while passing on bigger savings to customers—avoiding the margin erosion plaguing “instant delivery” players.

• 🤖 Tech-led personalization: The startup’s next frontier is AI-powered medicine recommendations—factoring in manufacturing quality, dosage form, patient age, and even coatings on pills—while enhancing supply chain forecasting for pharma partners. On top of that, it’s gearing up to launch diagnostics in select Tier-2 cities, aiming to offer common lab tests at the lowest prices in the market.

• 📈 A rare mix of growth + retention: FY25 saw ₹510 crore (~$57M) in revenue, up 66% YoY, with monthly order volumes approaching 600,000. Even more telling—over half of customers stick around after a year, a loyalty rate most e-commerce platforms would envy.

Why this matters
India’s healthcare conversation often revolves around access—but affordability is just as urgent, especially in chronic care where costs recur month after month.

If its AI-driven personalization and low-cost diagnostics scale well, Truemeds could evolve into India’s most trusted, value-first healthcare partner—a position that might prove more defensible than winning the race to the patient’s doorstep.

🚀 Startup Scoop

• ⚖️ Presolv360 raises $4.7M from Elevation Capital: The legal-tech platform provides online dispute resolution via mediation, arbitration, and negotiation, backed by an advisory council of ex-Supreme Court judges.

• 🤖 Graas.ai secures $9M pre-Series B: Its “Agent Foundry” builds AI agents for commerce tasks like pricing optimisation, inventory control, and customer service — moving brands from static dashboards to automated decision-making.

• 💳 FincFriends gets ₹41.5Cr debt funding: Through its RupeeRedee platform, the NBFC will expand unsecured digital loans to Tier II and III borrowers often ignored by traditional lenders.

• 💎 Shilpa Shetty bets on ethical sparkle: The actor has invested in Limelight Lab Grown Diamonds and will lead its “Let’s Get Real” campaign. With over 50 stores in 45 cities and a goal of 100 by 2026, Limelight is chasing leadership in sustainable luxury jewellery.

🤓 Chai Break Trivia

Did you know 🪙: The world’s heaviest legal tender coin is Australia’s 2011 Gold Kangaroo, weighing 100 kg of 99.99% pure gold. Its face value is AUD 1 million — but its gold content is worth several times that. Definitely not pocket change.

🔮 What’s Brewing Next

• 📊 US July CPI out today: Could shape the Fed’s next rate decision and ripple through global markets.

From affordable medicine moonshots to ethical sparkle, AI commerce agents to aircraft mega-hubs — today’s brew had a bit of everything. Keep that chaaa cup handy; tomorrow’s pour could come with a shot of inflation data and a twist of geopolitics. ☕📈🌏