Akna Medical Pvt Ltd (Aknamed), a startup that runs a healthcare supply chain, on Wednesday said it has acquired Vardhman Health Specialties for $35 million (Rs 255 crore).
The acquisition will help the company boost operations as well as expand, said Aknamed in a statement.
Earlier this month, VCCircle had reported that Aknamed was set to raise a larger round of equity funding from top asset managers to mainly fuel inorganic growth plans.
The combined teams of the two companies will work to build a robust hospital-focused supply chain in India through the use of technology, data and infrastructure, the statement added.
Naresh Chowhan, chief executive of Vardhman, said the transaction underlines the growing importance of consolidation in the pharma supply chain industry in India.
"It opens up significantly larger opportunities, apart from the synergies derived from the combined businesses of Vardhman and Aknamed," he added.
Vardhman, set up in 1988, is led by Naresh Chowhan (co-founder), Jayantilal Chowhan (founder and chairman) and Kalpesh Chowhan (director).
It is engaged in the distribution of speciality pharmaceutical products across India which are primarily used in therapies.
Aknamed was founded by Saurabh Pandey and Mahadevan Narayanamoni in 2018. Mayank Kapoor, Shaunak Joshi and Varun Vohra later came on board as co-founders.
The startup offers procurement solutions to hospital chains and mid-sized standalone hospitals with the help of its in-house technology and analytics tool SmartBUY.
In April 2020, Aknamed raised $7 million in its Series A funding from Lightrock. In July 2019, it raised $500,000 in angel funding.