Online healthcare startup Medlife gets $17 mn in fresh funding

Health-technology startup Medlife International Pvt. Ltd has received funding of $17 million (Rs 118 crore at the current exchange rate) from the family trust of its founder Tushar Kumar.

Prasid Uno Family Trust pumped in the money across three tranches over the last two months, show Medlife’s filings with the Registrar of Companies.

Medlife, founded in 2014 by Kumar and Prashant Singh, is a self-funded online platform for healthcare services. The duo also runs Tulip Lab Pvt. Ltd, a company which manufactures herbal and allopathic medicinal products. 

Kumar hails from a family of pharmaceutical entrepreneurs and was briefly involved in the family-run Alkem Laboratories. Prasid Uno Family Trust is a shareholder in Alkem Laboratories.

In an interaction with TechCircle in 2017, Kumar had said the company was planning to invest $30 million for business expansion. 

“The money will be infused in our personal capacity as founders and shareholders, as well from our family trust,” he had said. It’s not clear whether the latest round was part of this investment. A Medlife spokesperson declined to comment.

Online publication Inc42 was the first to report the development.

Medlife started out as an online platform for drug delivery. It gradually diversified to offer a variety of services including online doctor consultation and laboratory services. 

The company also announced the launch of its central laboratory in Bengaluru recently. The central lab is a fully automated pathology lab offering biochemistry, immunology, haematology, clinical pathology and cytology services. 

The firm has a single consumer-facing mobile app for accessing all these services. 

Medlife claims to service over 15,000 deliveries daily across 29 states in India.

In January this year, Medlife acquired Mumbai-based digital healthcare platform and home diagnostics services company MedLabz for an undisclosed amount.

Medlife competes with Mumbai-based PharmEasy, Chennai-based Netmeds and Gurugram-based 1mg. 

A number of startups in the online drug delivery segment are awaiting the final notification of the draft e-pharmacy rules, anticipated to arrive after the ongoing general election. The rules are expected to rev up growth in the sector by finally giving it legitimacy.

Deals in the segment

April 2019: Gurugram-based 1mg Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which operates an eponymous online pharmacy, raised $10.32 million (Rs 65.37 crore) in fresh funding led by South Korean investment firm Redwood Global Healthcare Fund.

September 2018: Online pharmacy NetMeds Marketplace Pvt. Ltd raised $35 million in a Series C funding round from Southeast Asian business conglomerate Daun Penh Cambodia Group.

September 2018: Bengaluru-based Metarain Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which runs pharmacy app Myra, raised Rs 8.75 crore ($1.2 million) in additional capital led by existing investors venture capital firm Matrix Partners and Times Internet Ltd. Tokyo-based Dream Incubator also invested.

September 2018: Mumbai-based 91 Streets Media Pvt. Ltd, which operates online drug delivery platform PharmEasy, raised $50 million (Rs 363 crore) in an extended Series C round led by new investor Eight Roads Ventures.