Exclusive: Medlife in talks to raise up to $50 million

Online medicine delivery startup Medlife is in talks with multiple investors to raise up to $50 million, according to two people familiar with the matter. The talks are in advanced stages and the round is expected to close in the next 4-6 weeks, added the people mentioned above.

This comes at a time when online medicine orders have seen an over 200% increase in demand over the last 30-40 days owing to the nationwide lockdown. 

“Investors are trusting e-commerce within grocery and medicine and are looking to invest,” said one of the persons cited above, requesting anonymity. “Medlife is in talks with 4-5 potential investors and will close the round in the next few months.”

Medlife confirmed the development saying they are in “discussions with multiple firms at the moment.” 

Sources also said that Medlife has received acquisition offers including one from a private hospital chain. A Medlife spokesperson, however, denied any acquisition talks. “We will continue to run independently and will raise money over the next few months,” added the spokesperson.  

Medlife’s funding conversations also come just a few days after a report came in about Reliance Industries being in talks to invest in Netmeds — another medicine delivery startup that was initially in talks with e-commerce major Flipkart. 

Online medicine delivery firms have witnessed skyrocketing demands over the last several weeks, but have had issues fulfilling all the orders due to infrastructural and supply chain issues. 

Medlife was founded in 2014 by Tushar Kumar and Prashant Singh. However, in August, former Myntra-Jabong CEO Ananth Narayanan joined the firm as a co-founder and chief executive. Apart from medicine delivery, Medlife offers online consultation services diagnostic tests as well. Their services are available in over 4,000 cities across 29 states, per their website. 

Medlife competes with the likes of Netmeds, 1MG, Medplus and Pharmeasy, which closed a $220 million round led by Temasek in November valuing the company at around $700 million.