Flipkart Health+ CEO Prashant Jhaveri To Step Down

After joining the company slightly over a year ago, Flipkart Health+ CEO Prashant Jhaveri has reportedly decided to step down from his position at the company.

Citing sources ET reported, Flipkart’s internal candidate Kanchan Mishra will replace Jhaveri, and will take over the role of CBO of Flipkart Health+. Earlier, Mishra was looking at FMCG, home and general merchandise business for Flipkart.

In March 2022, Flipkart Health+ announced the appointment of Prashant Jhaveri as its CEO. Before joining Flipkart Health+, Jhaveri worked as CEO of Apollo Health and Lifestyle Limited, and MediBuddy. He also served as the chief business officer for Medi Assist Group in his earlier stints.

It is pertinent to note that Flipkart’s foray into the epharmacy segment happened inorganically. In November 2021, the ecommerce giant picked up a 75.1% stake in Kolkata-based healthtech startup SastaSundar Marketplace, which operated the online pharmacy platform SastaSundar.com.

Post-acquisition, SastaSundar was relabelled as Flipkart Health+. Flipkart Health+ competes with the likes of Tata-owned 1mg, Reliance-owned Netmeds, PharmEasy and Amazon Pharmacy in the crowded epharmacy segment.

As per the ET report, Flipkart Health+ has gained market share over the past one year.

It was reported last year that Flipkart was looking to expand its epharmacy business, Flipkart Health+, across the country, and was eyeing cities beyond Tier-I to compete with its rivals.

The epharmacy started this process by starting medicine deliveries and healthcare products across the country, including remote areas.

India’s healthtech market is estimated to reach $21 Bn in 2025 as telemedicine and preventive healthcare grow in popularity among Indian consumers, according to an Inc42 report.

However, last year, the government released draft New Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Bill, 2022. The Bill also brought epharmacies under its ambit. As per Section 41(2) of the draft Bill, online pharmacies will have to acquire a licence to continue operating as usual.

Earlier in March, a Parliamentary standing committee on commerce had recommended the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) to finalise the draft epharmacy rules and formulate comprehensive guidelines with regard to the online pharmacy and health platforms.