Healthcare startup 1mg recently closed a $70 million Series-D funding round led by Consol Holdings, a European capital fund firm. The round also saw the participation from World Bank's investment branch IFC, South Korea’s Redwood Global Capital and Omega Healthcare as well their existing investors Sequoia Capital, Maverick Ventures, Kae Capital, HBM Healthcare investments and Omidyar Network throwing their hat into the ring. With the recently augmented funding, 1mg is now aiming to mount on an expansion drive.

The usage of funds

1mg, the Gurugram-headquartered health-tech startup, is now aiming to expand its laboratory base to 100 cities across India, e-pharmacy services to various third-tier cities and villages as well as push for growth in its data science department to roll out various features such as a digital doctor and an AI-built health bot. The company plans to bring the entire nation under its coverage.

They have also launched doctor consultation services in several cities across India. With the recently raised capital, they are also aiming to expand their network of vendors and medical partners to aid them in their expansion drive.

A bit about the company

1mg is a health-tech platform for consumers, with the sole aim to make healthcare more accessible and affordable for people. Prashant Tandon, Vikas Chauhan and Gaurav Agarwal launched this company in 2013.

1mg was earlier a part of HealthKartPlus, and now it has grown independently as the "Wikipedia of pharmaceuticals" as the portal allows its customers to seek alternative medicines against a prescribed one, helping customers save at least 70-80 percent on the cost of medicines.  It also features doctor consultation and appointment scheduling services in select cities across India.

Difference between 1mg and its parent company, HealthKart

As of now, there are no ties between 1mg and its parent company, HealthKart.

HealthKart is more focussed on being a nutrition brand, and their products include dietary supplements for weight gain, muscle gain as well as weight loss. The customer demographic of HealthKart’s product is mostly the young generation.

1mg’s demographic is completely different from that of HealthKart. It is solely motivated to cater to the medical needs of the people, irrespective of the age.

Doctor appointments and its difference from Practo

1mg boasts of the fact that it is providing to its customers an integrated model of healthcare through their platform, starting from the base level- medicine and then moving on to higher levels- diagnostics and doctor consultations.

The focus of the business model of both these companies is very different from each other. While Practo works on integrating its business with the medical echelons, 1mg is more focussed on the consumer base. Their recent initiative, online consultations, is also receiving an overwhelming response from its patrons.

While 1mg’s network consists of 82,000 doctors who are available for scheduled appointments, it is still working on integrating more doctors for its online consultation services.

Challenges

Pharmaceutical is a very sensitive business. Companies cannot afford even a minor slip up, as people’s lives are on stake. 1mg ensures that no stone is left unturned and that the best quality medicine is made available to its customer base. It also fought a ban from DCGI and made sure that they comply with the rules stated by the Drug Control Administration. They also don’t deal with Schedule X drugs- which reserves the maximum potential for drug abuse. It is also pulling all the stops to deal with the current pandemic situation and the overwhelming demand from its consumer base.

Conclusion

One of the key players of the health-tech business is 1mg, which is working day and night to make healthcare more accessible and approachable for people. 1mg is also pushing for its label of products to increase revenue margins by up to 10 percent within this year. 1mg is also competing with the likes of MedLife, PharmEasy and Netmeds, all of them being established companies. With this recent funding in place, 1mg is aiming for a wider diversification of its operation and a deeper penetration into its consumer base.