Leeds-based Pharmacy2U, the UK’s largest NHS online pharmacy, has secured a further £40 million investment to support the rapid growth of its online NHS repeat prescription service.

The financing is led by G Square, a London-based private equity firm with an investment strategy dedicated to healthcare in Europe.

G Square becomes the majority shareholder of Pharmacy2U.

Current investor Business Growth Fund (BGF) has also participated in the financing, having backed the company since 2016 to support the successful merger of Pharmacy2U and ChemistDirect.co.uk.

Pharmacy2U’s repeat prescriptions service has seen its customers surge by 178% over the past 12 months, with more than 25,000 new patients registering in the last month alone.

Pharmacy2U CEO Mark Livingstone said: “Pharmacy2U has enjoyed a phenomenal period of high growth and we’re delighted to have secured investment from healthcare specialist investor G Square and our existing backers BGF, which will help us continue to innovate and improve our service for our patients.

“Technology has transformed industries from retail and entertainment to travel and leisure and it is now making a significant and much needed mark on healthcare.

“We are on a mission to help improve patient outcome in partnership with the NHS by managing repeat prescriptions from request to delivery.

“The service relieves both the time and stress put on GPs, represents better value to the NHS and improves patients’ medicine adherence.”

G Square CEO Laurent Ganem said: “We are delighted to complete this investment in Pharmacy2U: we believe that its technology and services participate in positively disrupting the healthcare industry in the UK. We are much impressed with Pharmacy2U’s speed of growth, momentum in the sector, and remarkable customer experience. The management team headed up by Mark Livingstone have done a fantastic job in developing and growing the business so far.”

Richard Taylor of Business Growth Fund said: “BGF’s investment, provided through two separate rounds of funding, facilitated the successful merger of two relatively fledgling companies, creating a business with exceptional potential. Having worked closely with Mark and the team to support their growth plans, we’re delighted the business can now move quickly to the next stage of scaling its operations with G Square, and our continued backing.”