India’s highly lucrative but fiercely competitive online healthcare space will now see another major entrant. Flipkart today announced, that it has signed definitive agreements to acquire a majority share in Sastasundar Marketplace Limited which owns and operates SastaSundar.com, an online pharmacy and digital healthcare platform.
With this acquisition, Flipkart will also start building a newly launched health vertical, christened ‘Flipkart Health+’. The company says it will focus on providing consumers access to affordable and convenient healthcare.
According to publicly available data, SastaSundar, which is based out of India’s eastern metro city of Kolkata, has raised $48.2Mn so far, across multiple rounds. Its last round happened back in 2019, with the firm valued at $125Mn. It is unclear as to whether Flipkart paid a premium to that valuation or not. However, considering the surge in the healthtech space post the pandemic, it is highly likely.
SastaSundar.com runs an online platform (and apps) that helps consumers order medicine via their prescriptions. It has tied up with independent, small chemists across the country, and delivers medicine to consumers from one of those nearest stores. Currently, SastaSundar work with over 490 pharmacies.
In a press release issued for the announcement, Flipkart says, “Flipkart Health+ will leverage the combined strengths of the Flipkart Group, which includes its pan-India reach and technology capabilities, with SastaSundar’s deep expertise to provide consumers end-to-end offerings in the health-tech ecosystem.”
B.L.Mittal, Founder and Chairman, SastaSundar Healthbuddy Ltd, said, “At SastaSundar.com we are focused on developing innovative ways to provide access to affordable healthcare easily and conveniently, building a trusted network for authentic medicines, diagnostics and wellness. Through this partnership with Flipkart, we see an opportunity to further grow and reach a larger consumer base, using complementary technologies and logistics infrastructure.”
You would have to be living under a rock if you haven’t seen the post-pandemic frenzy that India’s online medicine delivery space has seen. It has seen action from India’s top business conglomerates — Reliance and Tata Group — as well as from established startups. Most of this frenzy has been driven by acquisitions. Reliance Retail, the largest retail chain in India, acquired Netmeds last year. While Tata Digital bought online pharmacy 1mg in June.
