Back in 2016, when Dr Ranjit Makam’s father survived a stroke, he realised that despite living in one of the prime cities equipped with the latest medical facilities, it often becomes challenging for caregivers to procure medical supplies. Medpick was initially formed as a Bengaluru-based healthcare startup that worked as a B2C supplier of medicines and medical equipment.
Delving deeper, Ranjit realised that the loopholes created – procurement process resulting in lost revenue and patient care inefficiency – were for the B2B players like retail pharmacies and medical stores. Thus, Medpick decided to address the problem of ensuring proper medical supplies to the retail stores and now works as a B2B platform in simplifying the procurement of medicines in healthcare businesses.
Facilitating easy pharmaceutical delivery
As there were only a few names in the business when Medpick had started, it was easier to create the startup where a group of like minded people from the same medical background teamed up together to address the issue on the platform.
Commenting on its current services, Chethan KS, Co-founder and Biomedical Engineer at Medpick says, “As a B2B platform we are double-facing the clients on both the ends.” While on one end, Medpick aids hospitals, small clinics, government projects, and laboratories in automating the procurement, with the maintenance of medical supplies and acquiring products from abroad, it also extends a helping hand to the white-level medical suppliers and distributors in marketing their products to get an even flow of sales, when regional marketing can be a major obstacle. Besides, Medpick also serves as the platform in organising their supply chain, while reaching out to newer hospitals across the country. To conclude, Medpick is the meeting ground for both hospitals and medical suppliers, ultimately benefiting the customers.
Solarix deserves a special mention here, especially at a juncture when the world is overpowered by the pandemic. Chethan adds, “Solarix is a portable disinfectant device that seems to be tailor-made for the Indian market.” Originally designed and manufactured by Canada, Solarix was introduced to Medpick by one of their vendors. Perhaps, Solarix was also the medium of opening doors towards the procurement of medicines from Canada by the Indian hospitals, thus increasing the market visibility. Thus, Medpick enabled Solarix on their app, and apart from the medical organisations it also reached out to the end users where the cab drivers benefited greatly, helping them to disinfect the surface, lessening the fear of contamination.
Medpick deals with a wide variety of medicare activities. The most significant Chethan feels is aiding the hospitals/medical organisations in getting the imaging equipment, be it for MRIs, X-rays or Ultrasound. Often, it becomes difficult for hospitals to pay for the imaging machines. Medpick helps them to get the refurbished equipment from the US.
Recent stats prove that the hospitals procuring through Medpick have already reduced their procurement cost by 10-15 percent. Besides, all the large slides and medical equipment which have been stationed at the warehouses due to lack of proper maintenance have been made functional by Medpick based on their excellent biomedical network spread across the country.
The e-commerce platform enables doctors to decide on the procurement of a product instantly with detailed specifications, along with importing equipment for hospitals from around the world, roping in improved medical technologies for India, and also help health startups track the right marketing strategies for their products.
Ease and affordability of a .in domain
Considering their potential customers, Medpick usually functions offline. Thus, to educate them on the benefits of procuring online, the .in domain served well. “Catering to hospitals and manufacturers across India was our primary goal when we started the e-commerce store. The .in domain seemed a natural way to reach out on a larger scale,” says Chethan.
The National Internet Exchange for India (NIXI) is helping many businesses across the country to get a .in or .Bharat domain. Enterprises irrespective of their scale and size can avail a .in domain with the help of NIXI. It is affordable and can be availed in more than 22 languages for businesses coming from all regions of the country.
Growth and revenue
Medpick realised that their actual calling was refurbishing, functioning, and supplying medical devices to the hospitals. Tracing the growth story, Medpick started by bringing on board a single multi-speciality hospital, from which it has reached almost 100+ hospitals, reaching out to the platform daily through their app or website. Besides, they have successfully clubbed almost 150+ manufacturers and distributors across India, reaching out to a wider space, irrespective of the location.
With the pandemic-induced restrictions, most hospitals are restricting the entry of medical representatives, thus increasing the difficulties of manufacturers and distributors in marketing their products. Chethan considers this to be the golden opportunity for Medpick as they can help hospitals move their medical procurement online while also aiding the suppliers and manufacturers in moving their supply chain online.
Commenting on the future roadmap, Chethan says, “We see a good market opportunity through our GPO-based procurements, leading to at least 500+ hospital procurements by the next financial year, along with projecting 500-600 manufacturers.”
The ‘Shaping India Inc’s Online Growth’ series chronicles the journeys of startups and SMEs in India and how creating an online presence on the .in or .Bharat domain powered their success stories.
