Full Points to Healthtech! Pharmarack is Giving Pharma Players 50% Savings

Pharmarack is a SaaS based application creating high impact across the value chain of the pharmaceutical Industry. Pharmarack technology helps pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies/manufacturers (fondly referred to as pharmas) automate and integrate billing software, CRM, marketing software or any other business support application.

First, meet the players in healthcare:

What is a retailer in healthcare sector? What does it do, why it needed?

A retailer in this case is a pharmacist because they retail the medicines to the end consumers.

What is a distributor in healthcare sector? What does it do, why is it needed?

In general, pharma companies do not open their own stores or engage in direct selling of medicines to the end customers. The law says they cannot indulge in direct advertising. They manufacture the medicines and sell to distributors who in turn sell to pharmacists and finally it reaches the end customer.

Okay. With that out of the way here’s more on Pharmarack from its cofounder and CEO, Pradyumn Singh:

Funding – who are the investors and how much?

Pharmarack has raised two rounds of funding, last one was a pre-series A for Rs 5 crore by venture capital funds and institutional investors like Unicorn India Ventures and Currae Healthtech.

Tell us how the business has grown so far – how many customers, number of product offerings, profit percentages, etc.

In a about a year and half, Pharmarack has brought on board 12,000 retailers and 750 distributors in 40 locations across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. We have been growing at 20 percent m-o-m consistently.

We have also signed our first MNC pharma company to automate their sales processes and distributors they work with in India. Pharmarack has built a tech enabled platform to help distributors and retailers place their orders using an online medium or via the Pharmarack app.

The automation of the order placement helps the supplier fulfill the order in time and updates the buyer on the availability of medicines in order to plan their sales forecast better.

What is the market size and opportunity?

The Indian pharma market is pegged at rupees one lakh crore. Every entity in the supply chain right from companies, warehouses, distributors to retailers and intermediaries have their unique set of problems and our product offerings directly address these pain points.

The Indian healthcare market is completely prescription led. This means that doctors write medicine name on the prescription for the patients and not components of the medicines. This is critical because if the specific medicine is not available with the chemist then the patient can’t opt for a substitute without checking back with the doctor. This is where Pharmarack can provide support. A chemist using our platform can immediately find where the medicine is available and how much time it will take to get it to the patient. This becomes more critical if it is a life saving drug in question.

Any challenges faced setting up? Anything unique to your situation?

We faced conventional challenges in the early days when large distributors who have been operating without any tech intervention were approached. They showed some resistance in the beginning but once they started using the product, they have spread the word in their community and we have been approached by new customers too.

During the early days, our customers would call us twice or thrice a day to understand how to use our platform better. My cofounder and I took charge of educating our customers and actually went out on client calls to give them training in using the product.

While that ensured a happy customer base, it slowed our expansion as the cofounders were out on the street. However, in hindsight, I think we wouldn’t have it any other way. A new product needs initial customer acceptance and if they interact with the founders directly, the comfort level and a long-term relationship is secured immediately.

How much were these pharma players spending before using Pharmarack?

Most of our clients in the middle of the supply chain have seen 75 percent cost reduction of order processing and increase in top line on an average.

Most of our clients have been refereed through existing ones, we have zero spend on any kind of marketing.

A large Mumbai-based pharma distributor who has been our customer for over a year has been able to reduce his supply chain costs by 50 percent and increase top line by 20 percent in 9 to 12 months of going live on our platform. Such a direct impact on one’s top line and bottom line has made Pharmarack one the largest player in the pharma automation segment.

Great, and any upcoming news – any big signing with clients or investors?

We are in talks with some large pharma companies both domestic and MNC to bring them on board. On the fund raising front, we are in talks with investors to raise Series A.