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Business News/ Companies / News/  Healthkart gets $6 million for spun-off 1MG
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Healthkart gets $6 million for spun-off 1MG

Healthkart.com will focus on fitness and nutrition business while the rebranded venture will be associated with generics

HealthkartPlus has also been rebranded 1MG and will operate under 1MG Technologies Pvt. Ltd.Premium
HealthkartPlus has also been rebranded 1MG and will operate under 1MG Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Healthkart.com, an online vendor of health products, on Monday said the company has separated its generic drug search business HealthkartPlus and raised $6 million for the new venture from existing investors.

HealthkartPlus has also been rebranded 1MG and will operate under 1MG Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Until recently, Healthkart.com and HealthkartPlus were run by Bright Lifecare Pvt. Ltd, an entity backed by investors such as Sequoia Capital, Intel Capital and Omidyar Network.

Deep Kalra, founder at online travel portal MakeMyTrip.com, has also participated in the current round, the company said.

Gurgaon-based Healthkart was founded by Prashant Tandon and Sameer Maheshwari in 2011 and has raised close to $22.5 million since then.

1MG will be headed by Tandon, while Maheshwari will continue to look after Healthkart.com.

“1MG has seen tremendous organic growth to become the largest mobile health platform for consumers in India. We currently have over 1.5 million downloads and continue to grow fast. We feel that with this dedicated focus, we will now be able to scale 1MG and make it the primary health app on every smartphone in India," said Tandon.

1MG has a database of about 100,000 medicines with detailed information on their side effects, interactions and composition.

It also allows consumers to do a price comparison among multiple brands of medicines with the same composition.

“Using the application, consumers can save about 50-80% through brand substitution," added Tandon.

The company also operates a digital marketplace that connects consumers to their local pharmacy in Delhi and Bengaluru, and is looking to expand into Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Chandigarh by the end of the year. “I feel this company has tremendous potential to be a significant player in the mobile health space, which is one of the largest opportunity areas that is waiting to be disrupted," said Kalra.

Meanwhile, Healthkart.com, which is looking to raise $20 million in the next six months, will focus on fitness and nutrition business. The company will exit other categories such as beauty, personal care, baby care and eye care, said Tandon.

The company is planning to enter the fitness services market, where it will offer gym memberships and services of gym trainers and yoga trainers.

Healthkart.com will be launching a meal replacement (nutrition shakes) brand in the coming quarter. “We want to be the fitness destination for consumers in India. Meal replacement is a big category in the West, and we are expecting it to do well in India, too," said Tandon.

Online retail is expected to be worth $6 billion this year, a 70% increase over 2014 sales of $3.5 billion, according to technology researcher Gartner Inc.

E-commerce represents less than 4% of the total retail market, according to a Gartner report published in October.

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Published: 20 Apr 2015, 12:35 AM IST
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