Pune-based online pharmacy Medsonway Solutions Pvt. Ltd has raised $600,000 (Rs 3.9 crore) from RPG Ventures, the venture capital arm of RPG Group, and will soon hit the market to raise a fresh round to fund its expansion plans.
While RPG Ventures said that the company, which focuses on medicines for chronic illnesses, will use the capital to expand its operations beyond Pune, Aniket Bora, co-founder and CEO, Medsonway, said it is expected to raise more capital to further expand its footprint across India.
“A chronic e-pharmacy business has strong fundamentals, higher average order value, high retention and a large expanding market,†said Kunjan Chikhlikar, head, RPG Ventures. The e-pharmacy claims that chronic medicines is a Rs 30,000-crore market with an average order value of Rs 1,200.
Medsonway, which was founded by Bora and Prashanth Pillai in 2015, allows users to search for medicines, upload prescriptions and get medicines delivered at their doorstep through a mobile app, which is available on both android and iOS platforms.
The company, which focuses on chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, cancer and heart ailments that need monthly refills, ensures regular supply of medicines through its automated refill services.
“We are a data-driven business and make extensive use of analytics to focus on customer acquisition as well as customer retention and revival strategies,†Bora added.
Medsonway handles about 250 orders per day and has registered 15% month-on-month growth in revenues in the past one year. It claimed to have served over 25,000 customers till date.
RPG Ventures, which backs early-stage companies in the technology, healthcare and consumer space, had recently co-led a Series-A round along with Endiya Partners to back Bengaluru-based ShieldSquare, which offers protection to internet properties against bot attacks and web scraping.
The e-pharmacy space has seen a few investment deals in recent times. In May, for instance, Kolkata-based Sastasundar Healthbuddy Ltd, which runs online pharmacy Sastasundar.com, had raised funds from Japanese drugmaker Rohto Pharmaceutical Co Ltd.
In April, Bengaluru-based Metarain Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which runs pharmacy app Myra Medicines, had raised an undisclosed amount in a Series A round co-led by Matrix Partners India and media company Times Internet.
In October, online pharmacy NetMeds Marketplace Pvt. Ltd had raised $14 million from Tanncam Investment, a Cambodian investment holding company, and Sistema Asia Fund, the venture capital fund of Russian conglomerate Sistema JSFC.
In July, Gurgaon-based 1mg Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which operates online drug marketplace 1mg, had raised $15 million in a Series C round from its existing investors.
In April, Mumbai-based 91 Streets Media Pvt. Ltd, which operates online drug delivery platform PharmEasy, had raised $18 million in a Series B round.