Our Biggest Battle Was To Change The Perception That Buying Medicines Online May Not Be Safe

Netmeds.com has emerged as one of India’s strongest online pharmacy players in the past few years.

It claims to currently serve about 3.7 million customers — doing about 10,000 orders a day — and be growing at 20 per cent month-on-month. Since its launch in 2015, the health tech startup founded by Pradeep Dadha, who is also its CEO, has increased its delivery from a few blocks to over 19,000 pin codes pan-India, covering metros, Tier 2, 3 and 4 cities as well as villages. To his advantage, Dadha comes from a family that has been in the pharma business for over 100 years. His grandfather, Lalchand, founded Dadha and Co. in 1914 and his father Mohanchand grew it into one of the most trusted pharma companies in South India. To build a leading pharmacy brand in the online space, winning the trust of thousands of consumers — all in a mere 4 years — has been a feat no less. In an interview with CEO India, Dadha talks about the challenges he faced building the brand, expanding operations, and the company’s performance so far.

Tell us a little about Netmeds. What is unique about the business idea? Do you consider it a disruptive idea in the market you’re in?