Netmeds: Case Study, Company Profile, Founding Team, and Many More

Introduction:

The Indian healthcare company Netmeds was founded in 2010 by Pradeep Dhadha. In order to purchase Netmeds, Reliance Industries recently paid 604 crore Rupees in total. At present, the startup has a valuation over $120 million. One of the most well-known and successful startups in India is Netmeds. Among the various things it offers are medications, healthcare facilities, medical supplies, and other services. Furthermore, they provide medical consultation services to their clientele. Their prompt delivery of prescription drugs to clients’ doorsteps is well-known.

Company Highlights:

Netmeds – About:

With its main office in Chennai, Netmeds enables its clients to purchase and mail medications from anywhere in the nation. Supporters of the project include OrbiMed, Daun Penh Cambodia Group, Sistema Asia Capital, and Tanncam Investment. In order to expand its offering of services, it purchased JustDoc in 2018.

Specializing in high-quality prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, general healthcare goods, Ayurvedic medicines, and homoeopathic medicines, it is one of the leading online pharmacies in India. It can be delivered to any part of India. With more than a century of experience in providing high-quality medications, Dadha & Company, one of India’s most reputable pharmacy brands, is the parent company of Netmeds.

A quarter of a billion rupees ($140 million) is thought to have been taken over by online pharmacies in India in the last few years, with an estimated 250 of them. Almost INR 1.2 lakh crores is the total value of the nation’s retail medication and medical sector. In Nanded, Maharashtra, the business launched its first franchise location in 2018. 2019, Belgaum, Karnataka, saw the opening of Netmeds’ first retail location. By 2020, it wants to establish 20 more of these kinds of retail locations in Karnataka.

Industry:

On August 24, 2010, Netmeds Marketplace Limited, a non-governmental organisation, was established. This publicly traded, unlisted business is categorised as a “company limited by shares.” The company has 83.22527 percent paid-up capital, or Rs 416.13 lakhs, and an authorised capital of Rs 500.0 lakhs. The final annual general meeting (AGM) of Netmeds Marketplace Limited took place on September 20, 2017. According to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the company last updated its financials on March 31, 2017. (MCA).

Founder and Team:

The present Chief Executive Officer of the company, Pradeep Dadha, launched Netmeds. After completing his studies at Loyola College in Chennai, Pradeep began working for his family’s company. It is a privately held corporation, and Pradeep served as chairman of its sibling business (Notch Media). Their staff is dedicated and collaborative, working together to ensure the success of this startup. The following people make up some of their team:

• Aman Madaan – VP Corporate Communications.
• Jugal Anchalia – VP Strategy and New Initiatives.
• Advait Pandit – Director of Technology.
• Anand Pathak – Director of Marketing and Sales.

Startup Story:

The Pradeep family entered the medication manufacturing industry in 1972 after a century of involvement in the sale of pharmaceuticals. After being purchased by Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd in 1997, the Pradeep Dadha family was in charge of the manufacturing division of Tamil Nadu Dadha Pharmaceuticals Ltd (TDPL). Next, Sun Pharma and TDPL combined. Board member of Sun Pharma is Pradeep’s father, S. Mohanchand Dadha, who founded the family firm. Using e-retail as a springboard, Netmeds CEO Pradeep Dadha launched Netmeds.com to further expand his father’s endeavours.

Mission and Vision:

The stated goal of the company is to “provide the people of India easy and affordable access to their everyday medicines.”

Pradeep Dadha, the founder of Netmeds, stated that the company’s mission is to give “consumers access to a wide selection of genuine drugs and reputable healthcare items.”

Name, Tagline, and Logo:

The Netmeds brand accurately describes its capabilities. It is a combination of the term’s “medicine” and “internet.” Simple blue and green make up Netmeds’ logo, which effectively draws in clients. The company’s slogan is “India Ki Pharmacy.”

Business Model:

Online health items, over-the-counter medications, and prescription drugs are all sold by Netmeds. Additionally, before sending out orders, the company’s licenced pharmacists review the prescriptions that clients file.

The business plans to provide pharmacies with pharmaceuticals at wholesale prices via a B2B business model. As of right now, the business gives its clients a 20 percent discount on prescription drugs. It is now assessing the viability of the B2B business model.

Another strategy that Netmeds is using to increase its footprint in India is franchising. Within the next five years, the company intends to open at least 1000 franchise locations. It will employ this model to support franchise partners with marketing campaigns, IT infrastructure, inventory planning, and stockkeeping in addition to promoting the brand name. Additionally, It is trying to collaborate with banks to offer loans to candidates that meet franchise eligibility requirements.

Revenue Model:

• Serving more than 19,000 pin codes, Netmeds India serves over 3,000,000 patients nationwide with prescription drugs and medical supplies.
• Since its founding, it has had double-digit growth rates every month. Its revenue increased 2.5 times in FY 2018. It brought in INR 3.94 crores in income in 2017 and INR 10.05 crores in revenue in 2018.
• Its stock-keeping units (SKUs) are distributed around several tier-2 and tier-3 Indian cities, totaling over 35,000.
• Eight fulfilment centres are allegedly located in Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Raipur, and Kochi, according to Netmeds.
• 13 warehouses are currently owned by the corporation.
• It’s operating revenue in FY21 was Rs 13,423.42 lakh, while in FY22 it was Rs 10,776.96 lakh. From Rs 104.77 lakh in FY21 to Rs 1,057.69 lakh in FY22, the company’s profit increased dramatically at the same time.
• Over three rounds of fundraising, it has raised $99 million. The most recent funding round, which garnered $35 million from the Southeast Asian commercial behemoth Daun Penh Cambodia Group, took place in September 2018.

Products and Services:

The platform at Netmeds provides an amazing assortment of over-the-counter and prescription medications (OTC). There are several goods available from Netmeds. It deals with prescription drugs for all major and minor illnesses, homoeopathic, ayurveda, and Unani medicines, as well as health foods, beverages, supplements, and personal hygiene items. It also stocks equipment including orthopaedic devices and surgical accessories.

Over 200 Indian manufacturers provide the products. The Netmeds website lists the top 25 manufacturers out of all of them. These include of numerous more pharmaceutical businesses as well as Sun, Ranbaxy, Cipla, and Dr. Reddy. The business also offers a diagnostics service that matches clients with licenced medical professionals to provide professional guidance.

In addition, the company offers an app that facilitates users’ search and ordering of medications, order tracking, and payment processing. Both the Google Play Store and the App Store provide it. The app’s features include tremendous shopping savings, online consultations, free access to medical and pharmaceutical information, and prompt reminders for medication refills.

Funding and Investors:

With the assistance of Orbimed, it was able to secure original investment in 2015. The company successfully raised a staggering $50 million in the series A financing. An online healthcare and drug delivery app named Pluss was acquired by Netmeds a year later. Another investment round, a $14 million series B round, was conducted in October 2017.

Sistema Asia Fund and Tanncam Investment were among the principal backers of this fundraising round. They spearheaded a series C financing round in 2018. We were able to raise $35 million with this effort. Daun Penh Cambodia Group contributed funding to the round in addition to the current investors.

An established online platform for medical consultations, JustDoc, was acquired by thecompany in 2018. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) made plans to acquire a sizable portion in Netmeds known. To introduce a grocery delivery service, Netmeds teamed up with Reliance Retail Wonder. It’s’ most recent acquisition was KiviHealth, which they acquired in March 2019. This is a large-scale digital health data management platform.

Employees:

It has 641 employees.

Challenges Faced:

Internet drug purchases introduced a new way of thinking. It was difficult for Netmeds to persuade and educate customers to make this change and look outside conventional brick-and-mortar pharmacies.

It hasn’t been easy, like any other e-commerce company, to manage the logistics of such a large country. Up to six medications or more may be taken monthly by the average chronic patient. The necessary over-the-counter and prescription medications must be swiftly sourced and delivered by Netmeds in a single basket.

Many people may find it strange and superfluous that a doctor’s prescription is required in order to place an order with Netmeds. However, it is encouraging those who have avoided hospital visits to see a doctor at last by doing this.

Acquisitions:

It has acquired 3 organizations.

Pluss is an app that delivers on-demand medications, healthcare, and wellness items. It standardises your experience regardless of where you live or which retailer supplies your medications. Better healthcare services are available via chat, video, and audio on one of the biggest online medical consultation platforms in the world, JustDoc. A patient-focused, cost-effective digital health information management system is what KiviHealth, a health IT firm, seeks to offer.

Growth:

By establishing warehouses through partnerships in 16 metro and non-metropolitan areas, the organisation intends to shortly increase its footprint. To boost overall productivity, Netmeds will concentrate on developing its infrastructure.

Partners:

There is no details of this.

Competitors:

It operates in a market with several well-funded competitors. Main rivals consist of:

• 1mg
• PharmEasy
• mChemist
• Myra
• BigChemist
• Care on Go
• Click on Care
• Lybrate.

Awards and Achievements:

• Asia’s Most Promising Brand 2018 was awarded to Netmeds by Int+ WCRC International.
• Recognised by ET’s Now World Health and Wellness Congress in 2019 as the “Best Digital Healthcare Start-up.”
• Awarded the 2019 ET Now World Health & Wellness Congress’s “Digital Healthcare Company of the Year” distinction.
• Selected as one of the 2019 E-commerce Summit and Awards’ 50 Most Influential E-Commerce Professionals in India.
• Won the 2018 Global Adjustments India Living Award and was recognised as the “Business Innovator of the Year.”
• Proclaimed the winner of the 2018 Zee Business Dare to Dream Award, where it received the title of “Emerging firm of the year.”
• Awarded the title of “India’s Game Changer” by Economic Times in 2018.
• Recognised by WCRC as “Asia’s Most Promising Brand” in 2018.

Future Plan:

Netmeds intends to collaborate with other pharmaceutical and nutritional businesses to use data analytics to target particular patient populations. Increasing the quantity of warehouses and fulfilment facilities throughout India is the company’s primary goal. By 2020, it hopes to have added 12 more fulfilment centres to its present 14 locations around India.

FAQs :

What does Netmeds do?

Healthcare and pharmaceutical products can be purchased online through NetMeds. Prescription, over-the-counter, and wellness items are available on its web marketplace. People can upload their prescriptions or do a straight search for medications. Users are able to schedule diagnostic tests and purchase a range of healthcare products, including gadgets, skincare, family care, infant care, and many more.

When was Netmeds founded?

It was established in 2010.

Who is the founder of Netmeds Corporation?

Pradeep Dadha is the Netmeds founder.

Who is the CEO of Netmeds Corporation?

The CEO is Pradeep Dadha.

Who are the main competitors of Netmeds?

It competes in a segment filled with well-funded rivals. Major competitors include:

• 1mg
• PharmEasy
• mChemist
• Myra
• BigChemist
• Care on Go
• Click on Care
• Lybrate.

Conclusion:

In the future, Netmeds intends to collaborate with a few significant pharmaceutical and nutritional companies. In order to take advantage of the power provided by data analytics, they will be attempting to target particular patient groups. It is totally committed to expanding its fulfilment facilities and warehouses around the nation. There are now 26 fulfilment centres in India. A division of Netmeds that employs a business-to-consumer e-commerce strategy is Netmeds Marketplace. In 2020, this unit experienced a 44% decrease in revenue. Additionally, RIL owns a sizable $83 million share in Netmeds.