1mg turns unicorn after latest funding led by Tata Digital

Online pharmacy 1mg has entered the unicorn club after an internal funding round led by Tata Digital, sources briefed on the matter said. The company raised $41 million, valuing it at $1.25 billion, the people said. Unicorns are privately held companies with a valuation of $1 billion or more. Tata Digital had acquired 1mg at a valuation of around $450 million in June last year. Tata Digital owns a little over 62% in the e-pharmacy. “The new financing has happened at a significant premium though the discussions were for a higher valuation before the markets turned choppy. This is also for the time being and the firm will look to raise a bigger round later this year or next year,” one of the people said. According to regulatory filings, about $40 million is in already with Tata Digital and others participating in it.

“Around $1 million more is coming. Besides Tatas, some other existing investors have participated in the round,” according to another person. 1mg founder Prashant Tandon declined to comment, while Tata Digital did not respond to any queries. 1mg turns unicorn after latest funding led by Tata Digital. This is the third unicorn under the Tatas’ ecommerce venture, after e-grocer BigBasket and Mukesh Bansal’s Cultfit. Bansal is also the president of Tata Digital. 1mg has also become the 21st startup to turn unicorn this year. The development comes at a time when late-stage funding has become increasingly hard to come by after a record year in 2021.

Funding deals at unicorn startups have fallen through amid change in market sentiment. Gurugram-based 1mg saw revenue from operations more than double to Rs 627 crore in fiscal year 2022 compared to Rs 309 crore in FY21. Its losses also increased by over 67% to Rs 526 crore compared to a Rs 314 crore loss a year ago. 1mg turns unicorn after latest funding led by Tata Digital 1mg rival PharmEasy is also looking to raise a new round after canceling its plans for an initial public offering. Reliance-owned Netmeds also competes with 1mg besides traditional pharmacy Apollo. Pharmacies like 1mg and PharmEasy were experimenting with offline stores for an omni-channel play. Walmart-backed Flipkart acquired Sastasundar, and later renamed it as Flipkart Health Plus. It has infused over $143 million into the healthcare business.

1mg is increasingly looking to widen its diagnostic business to position itself as a digital health platform offering a range of services including online doctor consultations. While 1mg has already opened a couple of offline stores in Delhi-NCR and is running them as a pilot, its omni-channel play is in line with parent Tata Digital’s plans to have both online and offline presence for its brands.