Online pharmacy 1mg is the newest entrant in the Unicorn club. The firm secured $41 million in an internal round of funding led by Tata Digital, at a valuation of $1.25 billion. 1mg was acquired by Tata Digital in June last year at a valuation of around $450 million.
Tata 1mg founded in 2015 was acquired by Tata Digital in 2021. The platform serves 1,800 cities. Up till now platform has delivered over 31 million orders and has 260 million visitors. In March this year, 1mg invested in diagnostic firm 5C Network.
The new fundraise will allow the company to raise its challenge against competition coming from Reliance’s Netmed and PharmEasy.
“The new financing has happened at a significant premium. The discussions were to close at a higher valuation before the markets turned choppy. The company will look to raise a bigger round later this year or next year,” according to reports.
1mg chalks out aggressive growth path
Regulatory filings indicated that nearly $40 million in funding has come in already with Tata Digital and others participating in it. Besides Tatas, some other existing investors also took part in the funding round, according to a person privy of matter.
1mg latest achievement comes at a time when rival company PharmEasy is also looking to raise a new round. It had recently cancelled its plans for an initial public offering. API Holdings Ltd., owner of India’s largest online pharmacy PharmEasy, withdrew its preliminary filing for an IPO, citing market conditions and strategic considerations, late last month.
1mg also faces competition from industrialist Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance’s Netmeds and another online pharmacy Apollo.
The company’s, based in Gurugram, revenue from operations more than doubled to Rs 627 crore in fiscal year 2022 as against Rs 309 crore. However, its losses also rose by close to 70 per cent at Rs 526 crore.
