Hardeep Singh
Recently Tata Digital has acquired BigBasket and is on the merge to acquire more companies for a better future of Tata Digital for providing more benefits. Tata Digital acquired Bigbasket and invested around $219 millions. Now, it has acquired 1mg an online pharamcy.
1mg
1mg, formerly known as HealthKart, is an Indian online pharmacy. 1mg, a competitor in the eHealth market, was founded in 2015 and provides consumers with simple and cheap access to a wide range of items such as medications, health and wellness products, diagnostics services, and teleconsultation.
The company has three diagnostic labs, has a supply network that reaches over 20,000 pin codes across the country, and engages in B2B distribution of pharmaceuticals and other healthcare items through its subsidiaries.
1mg’s creator and CEO is Prashant Tandon. Gaurav Agarwal and Vikas Chauhan were among the company’s other founders. In the book India Public Finance and Policy Report:Health Matters, edited by Sugata Marjit and others, the firm was one of two websites examined. Netmeds, Medplus, and Pharmeasy are some of the country’s other e-pharmacies.
Tata Digital acquires 1mg
Tata Digital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Tata Group, said that it will purchase a controlling share in digital health startup 1MG, the latest in a series of investments by the Tata Group as part of a goal to develop a super app. It makes the move only weeks after purchasing BigBasket and announcing a stake in CureFit.
In a statement, Pratik Pal, CEO of Tata Digital, stated, “The investment in 1MG improves Tata’s capacity to deliver exceptional customer experience and high-quality healthcare goods & services in the e-pharmacy and e-diagnostics market through a technology-led platform.”
The investment in 1MG is in keeping with the Tata Group’s goal of building a digital ecosystem that meets customer demands across categories in a cohesive way.
E-pharmacy, E-diagnostics, and teleconsultation are key sectors in this ecosystem and have been among the fastest-growing segments in this field, according to the company, since they provided access to healthcare throughout the pandemic. The covid-19 pandemic has affected the health industry and increased the growth of medicine and other healthcare facilities.
The total market is worth approximately $1 billion and is anticipated to expand at a 50% CAGR due to increasing customer awareness campaigns and efficiency. This category will be an important part of the Tata Digital ecosystem.
Tata Group said earlier this week that it has announced a deal with Bengaluru-based fitness startup Curefit to invest $75 million in the startup. Mukesh Bansal, the creator of Curefit, will join Tata Digital as president as part of the acquisition. Mukesh will also maintain his leadership position at CureFit.
The Tata-1mg transaction comes as Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance has joined the online pharmacy market with the acquisition of Netmeds, and PharmEasy has merged with smaller rival Medlife.
ET Now revealed in May that Tata Group had reached a formal agreement with 1MG to purchase roughly a 65 per cent interest in the e-pharmacy company and become the new owner. ET Now’s Nayantara Rai heard exclusively from sources that the deal valued 1MG at around Rs 1,200 crore.
Tata Digital is investing in many fields mostly in startups that are being growing in the pandemic phase. What are your thoughts about the acquisition of 1mg? Do you think it would be helpful for Tata to invest in them? Comment down your thoughts.
