API Holdings, the parent company of digital health platform PharmEasy, has appointed Rahul Guha as its new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, effective August 27, 2025.
Guha, who currently serves as CEO of subsidiary Thyrocare and President of Operations at API, will take over from Siddharth Shah, the last remaining co-founder of the company, who will now assume the role of Vice Chairman.
Moneycontrol reported in January that Dharmil Sheth, Dhaval Shah, Harsh Parekh and Hardik Dedhia—co-founders of API Holdings—would step down from the company, leaving Shah as the only remaining founder in an operational role.
Since the 2020 merger of online pharmacy PharmEasy and offline drug distributor Ascent Health, the five co-founders had jointly steered API Holdings through a period of rapid expansion, regulatory headwinds, and financial turbulence.
“This is to inform you that the Board of Directors of API Holdings Limited, at its meeting held on August 6, 2025… has approved the additional responsibility of Mr. Rahul Guha… by appointing him as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of API, effective August 27, 2025,” the company said in a letter to Thyrocare’s board, reviewed by Moneycontrol.
The letter further noted: “Mr. Guha was earlier serving as President – Operations at API, focusing on driving synergies across API Holdings Limited and its group companies.” It added that Guha will continue in his role as CEO of Thyrocare while taking on the top job at API.
Guha's elevation now comes amid efforts to bring financial stability and strategic clarity to the group. In FY24, API’s revenue declined 15 percent year-on-year to $660 million, while net losses halved to $300 million as the company tightened costs. Its flagship unit PharmEasy, once valued at $5.6 billion, saw its valuation plummet to around $700 million during a $216 million fundraise in April 2024 from Manipal Group’s Ranjan Pai, Prosus, and other investors.
The broader restructuring has been in motion since that down round. “The transition of Dharmil, Dhaval, Harsh and Hardik has been in the works since around the time PharmEasy raised its last round in April 2024,” a person familiar with the matter had told Moneycontrol earlier.
With Guha now at the helm and Shah taking on a more strategic role as Vice Chairman, the company is likely to focus on tighter operational execution and improved profitability across its pharmacy and diagnostics verticals. An IPO—which was originally filed for in 2021 and later withdrawn in 2022—remains on the cards, though no timeline has been announced.
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