INDIA – IMG, an e-pharmacy retailer incorporated in 2015 that also offers teleconsultation services and operates three diagnostics labs is now worth US$450million after Tata group buys 51% of its stake to become a majority shareholder.
Tata group, is an Indian public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, airplanes and with previous affiliation to the pharma industry bought stakes worth US$230million.
The e-pharmacy venture, 1MG was valued at US$242 million and had already raised US$156 million worth of capital prior to Tata group’s mega investment with a recorded a loss of over Rs 300 crore on a Rs 369 crore revenue in the fiscal year 2020.
1MG existing investors Sequoia Capital and Omidyar Network will exit the company in a fresh equity restructuring round while other investors like International Finance Corporation and Redwood Global-Korea Omega will continue to retain interest in 1MG along with majority shareholder Tata Digital.
With the outbreak and continuous surge of COVID-19, the healthcare industry is going the digital way from seeking medical assistance, doctor patient interaction to at-home delivery models.
The 2020s decade could turn out to be an era that reshapes our healthcare system by innovating and accepting digital technology at its heart.
According to Switzerland Global Enterprise (SGE), India’s digital healthcare market is at a nascent stage and contributes to only approximately less than 1.4% of the overall healthcare market with about three million households expressing comfortability when ordering on e-pharmacy portals.
The e-healthcare is here to stay and could be the new norm with predictions approximating that 60 million to 65 million households in India will be placing orders on e-commerce portals by 2025.
Tata group’s investment into 1MG was an effort to achieve its vision of creating a digital ecosystem in e-pharmacy, e-diagnostics and teleconsultation as critical segments in the healthcare ecosystem so as to deliver healthcare through the pandemic.
The investment move will help 1MG maneuver through the digital healthcare system alongside its competitor Prosus Ventures-backed PharmEasy, which leads the market and recently also acquired capital investment worth US$20million from B capital
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