Big move! This online medical supply startup plans to raise Rs 200 cr

Medikabazaar, an online B2B platform for medical supplies, plans to raise Rs 200 crores in Series B funding. The funds is being planned to be raised from a clutch of venture capital investors in Japan, Belgium and Germany. This includes existing investors such as Delhi-based venture capital fund HealthQuad, Rebright Partners, Japan’s Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance’s VC arm, Belgium-based Kois Invest. These funds will be used for the expansion of the company’s fulfilment centres, strengthening the technology infrastructure, making last-mile delivery more efficient and investing in logistics automation. A significant portion of the funds will go towards further penetrating tier 3 and tier 4 cities, as well as potential acquisitions for the company.

Speaking on the expansion plans, Vivek Tiwari, Founder, and CEO, Medikabazaar said, “India is the 4th largest healthcare provider market in Asia. However, it is also highly fragmented and unorganized to a large extent. At Medikabazaar, we are aiming to contribute significantly towards organising this market and are targeting 10% of the organised market share by the end of the next 5 years. Additionally, with schemes such as Ayushman Bharat, the country’s healthcare spending as a percentage of GDP is expected to grow from the current 1% to 2.5% by 2025.”

With plans to clock in $100 million in revenue and achieve a 5x growth by FY 2019,20, the move comes after the company’s recent tie-up with the Association of Healthcare Providers of India (AHPI) as the official Value Procurement Organisation (VPO) for members of the association. In order to realise its aggressive growth plan, Medikabazaar plans to increase its current strength of 250+ employees substantially by the end of Q2. The main focus of increasing its strength is to ramp up the technology infrastructure at a fast pace to help its business development teams to enable the implementation of its strategic initiatives.

The company now plans to cover several specialities by introducing innovative products in oncology, neurology, minimally invasive diagnostics and other therapeutic areas. The company is also venturing into other categories such as laser devices for varicose veins, devices for vascular surgery, ENT, OT environment safety, gynaecology and interventional radiology.