Medikabazaar in talks to raise Rs 200 crore in Series B funding

Medikabazaar, an online B2B platform for medical supplies, Tuesday said it plans to raise Rs 200 crore in Series B funding from venture capital investors in Japan, Belgium and Germany.

This includes existing investors such as Delhi-based venture capital fund HealthQuad, Rebright Partners, Japan's Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance's venture capital arm, Belgium-based Kois Invest, Medikabazaar said in a statement.

The funds will be used for the expansion of the company's fulfilment centres, strengthening the technology infrastructure, making last-mile delivery more efficient and investing in logistics automation, it added.

A significant portion of the funds will go towards further penetrating tier-III and IV cities, as well as potential acquisitions for the company, the statement said.

"We are in talks with our existing investors as well as a clutch of investors based in Japan, Germany and Belgium to raise Rs 200 crore as part of our next fund round," Medikabazaar founder and Chief Executive Officer Vivek Tiwari said.

This is being done as part of the company's growth and expansion plans to clock in USD 100 million in revenues in the financial year 2019-20, he added.

India is the fourth-largest healthcare provider market in Asia. However, it is also fragmented and unorganised to a large extent, Tiwari said.

"At Medikabazaar, we are aiming to contribute significantly towards organising this market and are targeting 10 per cent of the organised market share by the end of the next five years," he added.

Medikabazaar currently has 12 fulfilment centres across the country with warehouses which function as distribution hubs. The company plans to increase this number substantially over the next two financial years, Tiwari said.

"Our focus has and will continue to be on maximising efficiencies in procurement and inventory management by excelling in last-mile, on-time deliveries," he added.