Online pharmacy 1mg Technologies Pvt. Ltd has acquired Mumbai-based MediAngels (Angels Health Pvt. Ltd), an online hospital for an undisclosed sum in cash and stocks to strengthen its position in India’s eHealth space.
At the start, 1mg operates an online marketplace for medicines, besides facilitating medical appointments and diagnostic test bookings. But with its acquisition of MediAngels, it has also forayed into specialty doctor consultations, corporate health services, and insurance partnerships.
“Our consumers can now access a deep network of over 450 specialists across India and the world, and we also get an entry into the corporate health space through this platform,” said 1mg’s co-founder Prashant Tandon in a statement on Wednesday.
“We now offer services to consumers as well as corporate customers which include ePharmacy, eDiagnostics, eConsultations and Super Speciality Second Opinions as well,” he adds.
1mg, earlier known as HealthkartPlus, was the generic drug search business of Healthkart, an online vendor of health products run by Bright Lifecare Pvt. Ltd. In April 2015, HeartkartPlus was rebranded and spun off into a separate entity now known as 1mg.
On the other hand, MediAngels.com was founded in 2011 by super-specialist doctors, Dr. Arbinder Singhal and Dr. Debraj Shome with the purpose of bringing topmost super-specialist doctors within everyone’s reach using technology.
Fast forward to today, the company has established itself as a platform for patients to seek online consultations for specialized medical cases in cardiology, cancer, neurosurgery, orthopedics, and pediatrics, among other areas, from its network of doctors covering 93 specialties.
Also a business-to-business (B2B) service, MediAngels was used extensively by insurers and corporates who enroll for second opinions and employee health benefits. Insurers, for instance, can use the platform to consult doctors and ask whether a given patient should undertake a surgery or not.
MediAngels, which consist a team of 12 people, will continue to build the doctor network and B2B health services for the corporate users in Mumbai led by Singhal, said Tandon. 1mg, with this acquisition, will see its employee strength being increased to 301.
Commenting on the acquisition, Dr. Arbinder Singal of MediAngels said, “The time is right for eHealth platforms to serve the basic need of every Indian to complete the cycle of healthcare for the consumer at a click.”
“Within 1mg ecosystem, we plan to scale up second opinions and drive B2B engagements with more insurers and corporates. Our robust technology tools will help them optimize employee benefits spends on healthcare and to have a healthier workforce,” he adds.
This makes the second acquisition for 1mg in 2016 as in July, the Sequoia-backed company has acquired Medd.in, a booking platform and marketplace for diagnostics and imaging tests for an undisclosed amount.
This acquisition came two months after 1mg has raised INR 100 crore (about US$ 15 million) in a Series B round led by Maverick Capital Ventures and existing investors Sequoia Capital and Omidyar Network.
According to the Prashant Tandon in a statement, 1mg at present has 30 to 40 pharmacies across 13 cities that fulfill medicine orders. In the next six to nine months, the company plans to expand it to 30 cities.
On top of that, the company also has ambitions to roll out subscription services for patients with chronic health issues such as diabetes, blood pressure, among others.
By Vivian Foo, Unicorn Media
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