Truepill agreed to a $525M sale to LetsGetChecked, mostly in stock, per Axios

Hayward, California digital pharmacy provider that fulfils prescriptions for telehealth companies, merging with Irish at-home testing company LetsGetChecked

Combining a digital pharmacy with at-home testing closes the patient data loop, cutting costs and restoring Truepill's original one-stop telehealth vision

Truepill had raised over $370M in VC funding; LetsGetChecked planned about $150M in convertible notes to finance the deal

Truepill was a telehealth pioneer that raised over $370 million in venture funding from firms including Optum, Optum Ventures, Oak HC/FT and Initialized Capital, valued at $1.6 billion in 2021. By 2024 it was no longer a unicorn.

Axios reported that Truepill hired bankers in March 2024 and got one other bid judged inferior to LetsGetChecked's. Only $25 million of the $525 million is cash, the rest stock, with up to $200 million more in possible earnouts tied to revenue. The combined company, a NewCo, will keep the Truepill name for now and most of its senior management, including CEO Paul Greenall, who gets a $7.25 million forgivable loan. Truepill lost $15 million on $64 million revenue in the first four months of 2024; LetsGetChecked lost $32 million on $39 million in five months.

Both companies were burning large amounts of cash, so a combined business was meant to be stronger

LetsGetChecked's home testing devices could replace the third-party labs Truepill customers used for diagnostics

Health insurers' growing interest in how patients respond to GLP-1 weight-loss drugs makes closing the data loop valuable

Truepill was the slightly healthier business on revenue trends, so it kept its name and management

A once-unicorn can end in a mostly-stock merger with another cash-burning company, where the logic is operational fit (tests plus pharmacy) more than a strong standalone valuation.

As of 2024-08-21, per Axios sources, the deal was agreed but unconfirmed by the parties; LetsGetChecked planned to raise about $150M via convertible notes, and Truepill CEO Paul Greenall was to stay on in the combined company.