The Melbourne-based Directo has secured $2 million in a seed round of funding. Its intention with this investment is to grow its unique B2B marketplace, as it has the potential to disrupt the supply of pharmacy products across Australia positively. Combining the results, the funding round was led by Sydney seed VC Investible, demonstrating the fund’s interest in solving the healthcare industry’s problems through tech solutions.
Vision of Directo
Directo was established by Gavin Upiter and is intended to solve the issues and challenges that affect the delivery of products in pharmacies. The platform has access to more than 80 suppliers and wholesalers and serves over 500 pharmacies through direct access ranging from 30,000 products. This two-sided, networked platform is as close to B2C-style as B2B gets, using B2C-style price transparency, immediacy, and convenience to revolutionize the logistics and invoicing of B2B.
Challenges and Solutions
The current composition of the Australian pharmacy sector, with its 6,800 different pharmacy locations, has been diverse. Most pharmacies are owner-operated, small chains, or franchises with their pool of suppliers. This number can range from about 10 to more than 50 direct suppliers that an average pharmacy may deal with depending on their preferences in addition to the main wholesalers that they frequently order from. The ordering and stock control of products has also been affected by this fragmentation due to interruptions in distribution.
Directo needs to reinvent these interactions for the better with the help of the company’s proprietary enterprise technology platform designed to integrate with the pharmacy enterprise solutions. It cuts costs within the supply chain and increases the effectiveness of relations between suppliers and pharmacies. It also provides price information that is fundamental in an era where many pharmacies are aspiring to control their costs.
Image Source: Directo
Technology and Market Impact
The other core component of Directo’s platform is technology including the usage of artificial intelligence (AI). The fund will be utilized to improve the current platform and integrate further the AI elements and other additional services for buyers and sellers. This technological advantage is anticipated to experience tremendous growth in future years.
The buying and selling of wholesale pharmaceuticals in Australia is a $20 billion market and therefore hard for Directo to miss. The fact that the platform eliminates operational costs with numerous benefits makes the deal sweet for the pharmacies and suppliers. This new funding round will allow Directo to expand its activities and tap into this very profitable channel more effectively.
Future Prospects
Directo was growing, but it gained momentum over the past year due to the company’s endeavor to develop relationships with pharmacy chains. It experiences ‘flywheel effects,’ translating into customers buying products from the platform without persuasion. Each time more joined the chain, the advantages of the simplified supply chain motivate other pharmacies and suppliers to join the platform.
The journey of Directo is therefore an illustration of how technological advancement of health care is important. Having attracted significant investor support and demarcated future objectives, Directo is well-positioned to revolutionize the course of events in the pharmacy supply chain and bring profound changes to the field in the foreseeable future.
Conclusion
The $2 million seed funding signifies a turning point for Directo and the pharmacy industry in Australia. Due to the application of sophisticated technology, which is absent in most organizations, Directo becomes poised to change the industry since these shortcomings have not been effectively tackled for a long time. With continued advancement in platform sophistication, the platform has the potential to provide great benefits to the pharmacies, the suppliers, and the patients.
