Netmeds acquires telemedicine platform JustDoc

Netmeds Founder Pradeep Dadha sees JustDoc acquisition as an extension of his company’s quest to provide a robust set of health-related products and services.

Chennai-based e-pharmacy company Netmeds today announced that it had acquired telemedicine portal JustDoc in a stock-and-cash deal. The details of the transaction have not been disclosed. With this acquisition, the JustDoc team and technology will now be a part of the Netmeds platform. Netmeds aims to focus on diagnostics and give consumers the benefits of expert advice from medical professionals.

Founded in 2015 by IIT graduates Jugal Anchalia and Abhishek Kumar, JustDoc was started with an aim to provide video medical consultations across India, by connecting users to the best possible doctors at affordable prices. Meanwhile, Netmeds, apart from providing prescription medicine and OTC products, has also built ‘The Vault’, a proprietary Electronic Health Records storage app. Netmeds had acquired hyperlocal drugs delivery startup Pluss last year.

Pradeep Dadha, the Founder and CEO, Netmeds said in a press statement: "The acquisition of JustDoc brings an extensive and experienced physicians’ network, which will be the perfect addition to our present range of products and services at this stage in our growth plan."

Currently, the online platform provides prescription medicine and healthcare products to more than 3,000,000 patients across India. The team claims that it has seen double-digit growth rates month-on-month since inception.

In October last year, Netmeds had raised funding of $14 million led by Cambodian investment holding company Tanncam and venture firm Sistema Asia Fund. Tanncamm and Sistema will join early investors Investment Bank MAPE and OrbiMed Asia, along with Pradeep Dadha and his family as equity stakeholders in Netmeds.

Various players are vying with each other to grab the largest piece of the pie in this enormous market. Some of the big names in the sector, besides Netmeds, include 1mg.com, BigChemist, mChemist, and Practo.

Pradeep Dadha sees this acquisition as an extension of the company’s quest to provide a robust set of health-related products and services. “Netmeds will continue to expand the scope of its offerings to include diagnostics, lifestyle-related consulting, and a patient ‘peer-to-peer’ social network channel. Adding end-to-end video consultation workflows can make the whole process of providing high quality and affordable healthcare services far more efficient.”