Health care is considered an important determinant in promoting the physical and mental health and well-being of people around the world. India has a vast health care system, but there exist greater inequalities in health care between the rural and urban areas, as well as between the public and private health care. Sometimes drugs may not be available at the nearby pharmacy store, and this may be time consuming for the elderly and people with busy schedules to buy them at the right time. It’s tough to remember to refill every month, especially in the case of chronic diseases, putting the patient’s health at stake. On many occasions, the price of drugs is higher due to middleman’s profit, which makes it difficult for poor people to buy branded drugs. This may prolong their long-term diseases.
PharmEasy was started with the sole purpose of making healthcare accessible and affordable to all. The startup helps patients connect with local pharmacy stores and diagnostic centers to fulfill their extensive medical needs. It firmly believes that everyone should have access to good health and ensures the patients get access to the best and most genuine health products, with the highest savings in the shortest time possible.
PharmEasy was founded in 2015 by Dharmil Sheth and Dr. Dhaval Shah. The company caters to the chronic care segment and offers a range of services such as teleconsultation, medicine deliveries, and sample collections for diagnostic tests.
How does their platform work? It enables you to order pharmaceutical and healthcare products online by connecting you to registered retail pharmacies and get them delivered to your home. The major cities which the startup serves include Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Thane, Howrah, Pune, Gurgaon, Navi Mumbai, Jaipur, Noida, Lucknow, Ghaziabad and Vadodara. You can also book diagnostic tests including blood tests, full-body checkups, and other preventive health check-ups at an affordable cost, right from the comfort of your home. The startup has partnered with 100+ trusted and certified diagnostic labs that arrange for a free sample pick-up from the convenience of your home. They also provide you with timely reports.
Diverse offers on their platform facilitate online payment and via various payment wallets at a discounted price. Alternatively, you can also choose to pay cash on delivery when the products are delivered at your doorstep. PharmEasy’s subscription service helps to set reminder for your refills, ensuring that you are never out on your medical essentials.
PharmEasy today is India’s leading and most trusted online healthcare aggregator, and these statistics stand testimony:
- 50 Lakh+ families served
- 5 Crores+ orders delivered
- 22000+ pin codes served
- 1 Lakh+ medicines available
In addition to making healthcare accessible to all, through our technological innovations, the startup aims to revolutionize the healthcare system by:
- Making the industry data driven by providing doctors and patients the most accurate information to make decisions
- Making healthcare a universal right by making it cheaper and accessible
- Constructing a feedback loop for pharma companies enabling them to make better drugs to combat diseases like never before
- Eradicating fake medicines which contribute 30% of drug volume in India
- Reducing drug dependency and drug abuse
PharmEasy is acquiring a majority stake in diagnostics chain Thyrocare Technologies, in what the online pharmacy claimed was the first ever acquisition of a listed company by an Indian startup unicorn. The startup has been featured as the ‘Company of the Month (July)’ by the Business Outreach Magazine.
API Holdings, the parent company of epharmacy startup PharmEasy, has become the first India epharmacy company to enter the unicorn club. API Holdings has recently raised $323 Million in a Series E funding round from Prosus Ventures (formerly known as Naspers) and TPG Growth, at a valuation of $1.5 Billion. API Holdings’ existing investors such as Temasek, CDPQ, LGT Lightrock, Eight Roads & Think Investments also participated in the funding round. The latest funding will allow API Holdings to deepen its relationships and penetration of existing geographical markets to reach over 100,000 pharmacies in the next 12 months. It will also enable the company to further build out its platform to provide an increased range of services to healthcare practitioners and patients, setting up a better healthcare ecosystem for all Indians.
According to a report by IBEF, healthcare market in India is expected to reach US$372 billion by 2022. The Government of India aims to increase healthcare spending to 3% of the GDP by 2022. PharmEasy has good competitive advantage in the healthcare space as it continues to make progress in making affordable healthcare accessible to all.