This start-up aims to digitise 1 million traditional pharmacies in India

In an era where most of the urban population is quite used to ordering medicines on apps of the various online pharmacies, a Pune-based start-up is trying to digitise the vast network of traditional medical stores across the length and breadth of the country.

Biddano, which started operations in November 2016, has already on-boarded around 30,000 medical stores and is registering nearly 500 on a daily basis. On an average, the start-up processes 3 lakh orders each month.

“There are a lot of inefficiencies in the system due to which people are suffering. Healthcare access in Tier 2/3 towns is poor as people fail to get the medicines on time. Online apps are for those who can download the app and order. There is no one at a pan-India level,” says Talha Shaikh, co-founder & CEO, Biddano.

"We work with local pharmacies and deliver medicines to the actual needy people," he adds while highlighting the fact that Biddano can deliver medicines within three hours in the cities in which the venture is currently operational.

The venture, which was operational only in one city till August 2020, has expanded its network to 10 cities and plans to increase the count to 25 by March 2022 before hitting the 50-mark by end of next calendar year.

The business model is simple. Biddano is a B2B start-up that onboards traditional brick and mortar medical stores and helps them procure the medicines in quick time – less than three hours is its USP. It has also tied up with non-banking finance companies or NBFCs to provide a credit line to the pharmacies.

“There are loopholes in the current healthcare supply chain that is increasing the costs for all stakeholders. Our focus is simple. There are around a million offline pharmacies in India that we want to digitise through our technology platform to help them adapt to the changes or the shifts in the dynamic landscape,” says Shaikh.

It all started when Shaikh was visiting an old age home near Pune and met a lady who faced difficulties procuring medicines for herself. She was dependent on the local pharmacy who got her the medicines and gave her a 10 per cent discount as well.

“I told her she can get medicines at a discount of 20-25 per cent. She couldn’t believe me. But it was important to her as she was earning only Rs 5,000 per month and her medicine bill was around Rs 4,000. She had to manage all other expenses with the balance money,” says Shaikh.

“I got her the medicines with around 25 per cent discount. She was literally in tears. She even gave me some sweets,” he says.

Shaikh started Biddano along with co-founder Ashok Yadav, an industry veteran with 25 years of corporate experience having worked with companies like Deloitte, Syntel, WNS and eClerx among others.

Though initially bootstrapped, the start-up has raised funding through a few rounds and is planning to raise a Series A round to strengthen its leadership teams across all verticals and also launch a new platform.

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