BuyMed, a Vietnamese B2B startup that provides a healthcare and personal care distribution platform, has raised US$8.8 million in a new round of funding, led by South Korea’s Smilegate Investment.
Smilegate invested US$3 million while the remaining amount came from Cocoon Capital, Sequia Surge, Genesia Ventures, B Capital, TSP Consulting, and Nexttrans.
Co-founder and CEO Peter Nguyen said BuyMed will use the money to build a fully integrated e-commerce platform, enabling practitioners to research educated sources and receive delivery for their medicines, medical supplies, supplements and so forth.
The company also plans to develop its app with more medical services, such as financing solutions and a system to manage clients, patients, and prescription drug dealers. It will transform independent pharmacies and mom-and-pop pharmacies in Vietnam into more network-oriented pharmacies.
BuyMed is also looking to expand into other markets in Southeast Asia.
Without an official multi-brand distributor, most pharmaceutical companies and brands have launched their own distribution networks, resulting in a fragmented distribution of medicines and pharmaceuticals to medical institutions. “This situation is also happening in many Southeast Asian countries. So we have many opportunities to explore,” stated Nguyen.
Also read: Vietnam’s BuyMed raises US$2.5M to expand its pharma distribution marketplace in Southeast Asia
Co-founded by Nguyen, COO Vu Vuong, and CPO Hoang Nguyen, BuyMed aims to assist Vietnam’s healthcare system grow by modernising the country’s traditional distribution channels. Its exclusive B2B platform Thuocsi.vn connects licensed distributors with healthcare providers, automatically matching orders and end-to-end logistics.
By 2020, Thuocsi.vn claimed to have 700 certified suppliers, distributors, and manufacturers serving over 7,000 healthcare providers.
During the COVID-19 spread, BuyMed allowed partners to sell online and offer safety features such as regular office and warehouse cleaning, delivery, and ongoing payment without direct contact.
Even though its operations in Ho Chi Minh City have been adversely impacted due to the lockdown and surging caseload, it is picking up pace with new opportunities.
“The lockdown has caused those wholesale markets to shut down, so there are a lot of pharmacies in the country that don’t have medicine or don’t have a supply of medicines,” said Nguyen. “Therefore, we have become one of the main forces of medicine for a lot of pharmacies.”
The firm has also ramped up its business in Hanoi, as it has been operational here for nearly six months.
Besides, BuyMed plans to provide more product categories in the healthcare industry, such as cosmetics, medical equipment, functional foods, forging ahead to become a commercial site.
As noted in “Healthcare Providers in Vietnam – Market Summary, Competitive Analysis and Forecast to 2025”, the Vietnamese healthcare providers industry generated total revenues of US$17.1 billion, indicating a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.5 per cent between 2016 and 2020.
The country’s healthtech startups drew VCs attention in recent years, with companies such as Medici, Nhi Dong 315, eDoctor, JIO Health, and Med247 raising significant venture capital.
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Image credit: BuyMed
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