HealthKart looking to raise funds in the next 6-12 months

Niche e-commerce player in the healthcare space – HealthKart is looking to raise funds in the next 6-12 months, but have not finalised anything on funding yet.

The company, which has about 350 employees, has so far raised about $22.5 billion in three rounds of funding. Its investors include Sequoia, Intel Capital, Kae Capital and Omidyar Network. Tandon declined to comment on revenue details.

“Investors are showing interest in HealthKart, but we are yet to finalise anything. We would need funds in the next 6-12 months, but we have not finalised any funding yet,” Prashant Tandon, co-founder and Managing Director, HealthKart told PTI on the sidelines of the Technopak Leadership Forum, E-tailing.

The firm is betting big on the multi-billion health and nutrition market in the country as an increasing number of people go online to buy products like health supplements and testing kits.

"Unlike other retailers, we are in a speacialised category of health and it is growing in India. The nutrition market alone is about USD 2 billion, growing at 22-25 per cent. Health and devices with products like glucose testing kits and blood pressure monitors, is a $3-5 billion market in India," Tandon said.

The market is fragmented and offline retail alone cannot service the market and therefore, HealthKart sees a huge potential in the segment.

"People in the country today are more informed and concerned about what they consume. This alone is a $10-15 billion market," he said.

The firm, which also operates a drug search app called HealthKart Plus, said over 30 per cent of its sales is coming from smaller towns.

"A major problem that the small towns faced was the unavailability of health products and that of fakes. People don't mind fakes with apparel, but will not take the risk with their health. We work directly with the brands and their authorised distributors to ensure that they get only genuine products," he said.

Through HealthKart Plus, the company offers information on prescribed medicines, substitutes, usage and also direct users to the nearest drug stores where it will be available. The app has already has 750,000 users.