IPO-bound Veeda Clinical Research raises $16 mln in round led by Sabre PE

IPO-bound Veeda Clinical Research on Thursday announced that it has raised USD 16 million (around Rs 118 crore) in a funding round led by private equity fund Sabre Partners.

Without revealing the stake sold, the clinical research organisation backed by CX Partners termed this as a growth capital.

The round also saw participation from high net individuals like Pranab Mody of JB Chemicals, Havells India family office, Nikhil Vora of Sixth Sense Ventures, and Arjun Bhartia of Jubilant, as per an official statement.

The CRO industry is witnessing rapid growth resulting from a confluence of economic and regulatory tailwinds. We believe Veeda is well-positioned to capitalise on this opportunity as one of the largest independent full-service clinical research organisations, Sabre's founder and managing partner Rajiv Maliwal said.

The Ahmedabad-headquartered Sabre has invested USD 280 million in its nearly two-decade existence and returned USD 1.7 billion to investors from its three funds. The investment in Veeda is being done from its fourth fund which was launched in 2019.

Veeda's managing director Ajay Tandon said it aims to be the preferred research partner offering a broad range of drug development, pre-clinical, and clinical research services to global innovator, generic, and biopharma clients.

We will continue to invest in developing our delivery capabilities, to be increasingly relevant to our client's objectives, he added.

Veeda Clinical Research is proposing an initial public offering of its equity shares in the near future subject to receipt of requisite approvals, market conditions, and other considerations, and is in the process of filing a draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the statement said.