Tata Digital’s majority stake acquisition in 1mg, one of the most-watched deals in the online healthcare industry in the past 18 months, brought the conglomerate into the fast-moving digital wellness ecosystem of India.
Gaurav Agarwal, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the digital healthcare platform 1mg, believes a close partnership with the Tata brand will provide much-needed firepower to propel its ambitions.
Agarwal was speaking at a panel discussion at the Ascent eConclave on Friday.
Gurugram-headquartered 1mg needs all the ammunition it can get to accelerate its business in the booming healthcare space. Other major deals that have taken place in the ecosystem include Reliance Retail’s acquisition of a majority stake in Netmeds for Rs 620 crore in August 2020 and online pharmacy Pharmeasy buying Medlife in May 2021, and diagnostic chain Thyrocare a month later.
Gaurav believes that online healthcare has room for at least three players, especially because 97 percent of the pharmacy industry is still offline. The future is omnichannel, he asserts, adding that Pharmeasy and Tata 1mg are currently leading the pack.
The Interview
Is digitisation changing the BFSI sector in India? Watch this webinar for insights on the evolution of digital lending, customer engagement transformations, and more. Listen to CXOs and founders discuss data structuring best practises that are enabling rapid development for the banking sector in India.
Editor’s Pick: A perfect storm for India’s startup ecosystem
The inbound capital into India’s unicorns will propel startups, drive jobs, transform business, and create impact for the country, said Nandan Nilekani, Non-executive Chairman of Infosys.
India has more than 70 unicorn companies, 40 of which got the coveted status in the past 11 months, he noted in the Ascent eConclave 2021 keynote on Friday.
Nilekani said the COVID-19 pandemic and the geopolitical issues between US and China has made India a bright spot in the digital story. Read more.
Startup Spotlight
Teaching coding in regional languages
A recent report by the education ministry revealed that about half of India’s students study in Hindi-medium schools. However, most coding courses are available in the English language.
Jaipur-based Tinkerly set out to solve this problem by providing online coding courses to students from smaller towns in their preferred language. Read more.
News & Updates
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