Generico, the Mumbai-based medtech startup has raised ₹21 crores ($3 million) in series A round of funding from Whiteboard Capital, Tomorrow Capital and angel investor Gagan Goyal. The startup plans to use the freshly raised capital expand its operational bases to 100 more cities including Pune and some cities in Gujarat in the next 10 months.
Founded by Siddharth Gadia, the startup provides generic medicines through a chain of 20 physical pharmaceutical stores across Mumbai. Generico provides a whopping 80 per cent discount on its generic products and 15 per cent discounts on branded medicines. A customer can also subscribe to receive medicines monthly and get an additional a 15 per cent discount.
Generico has plans to raise additional funds in the future. The startup believes that a customer can save as much as 80 per cent by switching to generic medicines. The startup sources its products from government approved manufacturers and believes in maintaining the quality to the maximum. Generico allows customers to order medicines over phone calls and WhatsApp and delivers the order within six hours.
Rohini Prakash of Tomorrow Capital said, “There will be a movement from the unorganized to the organized sector, applicable to the retail pharmacies as well. I believe that Generico team has the potential to build a profitable, scalable and valuable business. The startup’s business model will be able to reduce the out-of-pocket expenditure on healthcare.”
The government of India has introduced the Jan Aushadhi Scheme which has a similar model. It provides low-cost generic medicines to customers. However, the supply is strictly controlled by the government. Generico is focusing on regions where Jan Aushadhi Scheme has not reached a year.
According to IBEF, India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally. Indian pharmaceutical sector industry supplies over 50 per cent of global demand for various vaccines, 40 per cent of generic demand in the US and 25 per cent of all medications in the UK.
The pharmaceutical sector was valued at $33 billion in 2017. The country’s pharmaceutical industry is expected to expand at a CAGR of 22.4 per cent over 2015–20 to reach $55 billion. India’s pharmaceutical exports stood at $17.27 billion in 2017-18. In 2018-19 these exports are expected to cross $19 billion.
