B2B healthcare service provider Biddano is planning to streamline offline pharma distribution networks by bridging key supply chain gaps between distributors and chemists. The company leverages the latest technology to develop its platform and is currently looking to expand its network to 25 cities across India “on the back of growing demand in healthcare services,” according to a release shared with CI.
Currently, the B2B firm is operational in six cities including Andra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and plans to enter other cities in India after its upcoming investment round. The Pune-headquartered firm intends to secure about $10 million through a Series A round during the next 2 months.
The company claims it has secured around a million dollars through its pre-Series A round from Venture Catalysts and LetsVenture in October of last year.
Launched in 2016 by Talha Shaikh and Ashok Yadav, Biddano aims to bridge supply chain gaps between distributors and chemists with its “full-stack” technology platform. The company explains that it employs a “plug & expand” model in order to help distributors seamlessly manage their demand and supply while being able to expand their geographical reach.
As explained in the release, the platform simplifies the order management process for chemists and hospitals by enabling different distributors to easily consolidate into pharmacy-specific deliveries. Through its fulfilment infrastructure, Biddano aims to ensure that pharmacies, chemists, and hospitals are able to procure medicines in “less than three hours of placing an order,” the announcement noted.
Talha Shaikh, Co-founder, Biddano, stated:
“We are already in talks with multiple investors for our Series A round. We plan to use the funds to expand our network and build a community of 1 lakh+ retailers and 5,000+ distributors, enhance our technology and infrastructure, and launch new products. With all this in place, Biddano would become India’s first and largest B2B healthcare supply chain platform.”
As mentioned in the release, with its artificial intelligence-driven model, Biddano plans to offer healthcare products to different stakeholders at affordable rates. The company plans to serve as a “one-stop” solution for all the procurement and fulfilment requirements of chemists and hospitals in a market that’s worth more than $24 billion and is growing at 13% CAGR, according to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation.
Recently, the segment has also attracted considerable investor interest. Saveo, a Bengaluru-headquartered firm has acquired $4 million from Matrix Partners. Unicorn Pharmeasy has also recently launched a supply chain subsidiary, called Retailio. Digihealth, a firm established by a consortium of Cipla, SunPharma and other few pharma firms, also acquired IvyCap-backed Pharmarack earlier this month.
Ashok Yadav, Co-founder, Biddano, remarked:
“The business is being structured in such a way that it not only eliminates inefficient processes both at the distributor’s and retailer’s level, but also improves throughput and margin. The entire emphasis is on creating a ‘just in time’ inventory model to free-up working capital.”
In order to address some of the key challenges that are being faced by India’s healthcare sector, Biddano is offering additional services backed by their proprietary, AI-powered technology platform:
Shortbuk: A one-stop procurement platform “for pharmacies for non-pharma and fast-moving consumer goods”
Biddano Logistics: A tech-enabled rapid solution “for last-mile deliveries catering to distributors and pharmacies/hospitals”
Biddano Capital: A facility that will “solve working capital problems for various stakeholders on the platform such as pharmacies, hospitals and distributors.”
While discussing how the COVID-19 crisis impacted Biddano’s growth, the firm’s co-founders acknowledged that the global pandemic has adversely affected many consumers and businesses. However, they pointed out that these challenging times have forced the healthcare sector to adopt the appropriate technological tools so they can better address the requirements of consumers.
As confirmed in the release:
“Biddano grew by 36% in just three months after the pan-India lockdown was implemented in March 2020. The startup’s gross merchandise value doubled to Rs 250 crore in 2020, and it has added over 10,000 pharmacies to its network, expanding to 150 areas, and processed 1.5 million orders during the period.”
Biddano’s management further noted that the company aims to create a “socially-conscious” healthcare ecosystem. Biddano works to “impact millions of lives by delivering medicines and essential goods on time.” A “category-buster” in the healthcare industry, the startup has reportedly been “endorsed” by the All India Association of Chemists & Distributors as its “exclusive channel partner.”