While Swiggy Instamart and Flipkart Minutes have taken to fast medicine delivery to boost revenue, new ventures like Plazza offer differentiated services
Plazza has launched franchise outlets called Lifestores, partnered with seven pharmacies and claims access to an inventory of 10K+ health products
Founders are in talks to raise funding as the startup is eyeing expansion and building a tech stack to enhance operations
Quick commerce in India is evolving at a fast clip, growing beyond daily essentials and consumer durables. Gadgets and gizmos (even the iPhone16 family) now arrive at shoppers’ doorsteps within minutes, and food delivery is all set to follow suit. However, the biggest game changer could be the q-commerce foray into healthcare and pharmacy markets, with the 10-minute ambulance service, recently announced by Blinkit, looking like the cherry on top.
The q-commerce model for medicines initially raised many eyebrows despite the convenience of speed. After all, these are not regular products to be delivered in a hurry but need to follow regulatory compliance at every step for the best possible outcomes.
Yet, when pure-play grocery delivery platform BigBasket (a TATA enterprise), Walmart-owned ecommerce giant’s quick delivery vertical Flipkart Minutes, as well as quick commerce veterans Zomato’s Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart, all joined the pharma race, the hook was quite clear. They wanted to leverage the core expertise – quick and efficient delivery – to maximise their cart value. In FY24, all three q-commerce players exceeded $1 Bn in GMV, indicating the kind of revenue ‘speed delivery’ could bring.
Unhappy with the quick-fix solutions – not many players in this space are from the healthcare domain or solely focussing on this vertical – a new startup (and bootstrapped at that) entered the fray with significant service differentiations. Aman Priyadarshi and Aniruddha Sen saw a big opportunity to address a pressing consumer need and further provide a host of related services for 360-degree healthcare.
The duo launched a full-featured, 24×7 medicine delivery platform called Plazza in November 2024, aiming to do doorstep deliveries in 15-17 minutes, and is currently operating from a single location in Bengaluru (Yemalur, to be precise). It initially partnered with seven licensed pharmacies and recently launched a Lifestore in Yemalur to maximise sales and optimise inventory management.
Lifestores are regular pharmacies converted to Plazza-operated outlets via a franchise model, with the startup providing comprehensive support in areas like inventory management, software installation, workforce recruitment and customer acquisition through its platform. As the business expands, It plans to open two more Lifestores, one in the Electronic City and another in Haralur.
Given these tie-ups, Plazza has instant access to an inventory of 10K+ health products, including prescription medicines, OTC drugs, supplements and personal care items. It also claims quick access to complex medications for post-operative care and cancer treatment.
The platform enables quick ordering via its app and website, offering multiple payment options, real-time order tracking and timely delivery. Its core revenue model is built on a profit-sharing arrangement with partner stores, while 20-25% of its earnings come from medicine retailing through its Lifestores. The average order value stands at INR 700.
Detailing the profit-sharing model, Priyadarshi said when medicines are sold at a profit (factoring in packaging cost and delivery charges), the partner shop gets a share for managing operations, and Plazza retains the rest for covering logistics, customer engagement and support services. Other revenue sources include brand promotions and shelf rentals, wherein companies pay to place their products in a Plazza store for fast shipping.
To distinguish itself from players like Practo or Apollo 24/7 (it has also rolled out a 19-minute delivery model), Plazza is looking beyond delivery speed and convenience. It aims to emerge as a one-stop healthcare hub with a full spectrum of services such as doctor consultation, diagnostic tests, home nursing, home delivery of diagnostic equipment and access to personalised healthcare services through a subscription model. Its goal is to provide end-to-end services for hospital treatment, surgery, emergency assistance and therapy, making healthcare more accessible, fast and reliable.
The founders claim 1K sign-ups since its launch and are in talks to launch drone deliveries for hospitals (more on that later).
Asked how the Plazza model differs from pure-play quick commerce or same-day ecommerce deliveries, Priyadarshi said that the format and the intent could never be the same.
“Health purchases are driven by high intent, but existing apps bury medicine tabs under multiple clicks. Moreover, healthcare needs to go beyond quick access to medicine. It should include easy replenishment, exploring alternatives and proactive consultations to save time,” said Priyadarshi. “Ecommerce platforms focus on increasing cart value with non-health items. When a health issue arises, people need quick, convenient health solutions, an area that the Swiggys and the Flipkarts are unlikely to address fully anytime soon.”
How A Health Crisis, Lessons From Kenko Paved The Path For Plazza
Home delivery of medicines took off at scale with online pharmacies coming into play. But their delivery windows frequently failed to meet emergency requirements. Offline pharmacies, accounting for 95-97% of the market share, provide home deliveries now and then. The process remains cumbersome, though, requiring customers to share prescriptions, discuss quantities and alternatives, and provide payment screenshots. As delivery times are usually unpredictable, many customers are compelled to visit their local medicine stores in person. Essentially, the medicine delivery market was ripe for disruption.
However, Plazza was not born until Priyadarshi went through a personal emergency. His sister underwent a kidney transplant during the Covid-19 pandemic and his brush with critical healthcare exposed how broken the system was. Medicines were overpriced; hospitals did not provide ancillary services, and insurance did not cover post-operative care.
At the time, he also met Sen, a longtime friend and former client at one of the startups Priyadarshi had launched. The serial entrepreneur was invited to help build Kenko, a healthcare financing startup founded by Sen in 2019. It also raised $13.7 Mn from Peak XV, Beenext, Orios Venture Partners and a clutch of angel investors.
Priyadarshi had limited experience in healthcare but joined Kenko in 2023, banking on his expertise in consumer internet companies. He had been with Zomato for nearly four years and founded two startups. The first was Ibism, where he developed a SaaS tool for business process automation, while DhoduDhodu provided logistics solutions to companies such as Paytm, MobiKwik, FT Cash, 1Mg and Freecharge.
“Back then, Kenko said the ecosystem was outdated and over-regulated, preventing new-age startups from entering the space. We tried to change the paradigm by designing subscription-based plans to cover the costs of OPD, medicines and healthcare products,” said Priyadarshi.
He had built Zomato Gold, a similar concept in the consumer internet space, but it did not take off in the insurance sector. “I realised that we were trying to sell a subscription that people had not used before and promised them all those benefits later in life, something that never worked historically,” he added.
“At Kenko, demand was never an issue, but supply was,” said Sen. The startup focussed on meeting healthcare costs, but its lack of control over service quality was a growth barrier. So, a reverse approach was adopted when setting up Plazza.
“Our initial focus is to provide convenient and reliable healthcare services. Later, we aim to introduce healthcare subscriptions to ensure customers receive high-quality healthcare without out-of-pocket expenses. First, we need to deliver on our promise. That’s our thesis and our core philosophy,” the duo affirmed.
A few months after joining Kenko, Priyadarshi started exploring more sub-segments under healthcare and zeroed in on medicines, which are the biggest expense for most people. His research revealed that access to medicines remains a persistent pain point in many areas. “Even in metro cities like Bengaluru, basic medicines aren’t always easy to find,” he observed.
To delve deeper, he also worked with a pharmacy in Bellandur for a couple of months and noticed a clear divide between online platforms and offline stores. Although e-pharmacies have existed since Covid times, 97% of people rely on physical outlets for quick access during medical emergencies. This insight inspired him to rethink the medicine delivery space and reinforced his resolve to launch Plazza.
Priyadarshi left Kenko in February 2024 to explore this opportunity further and piloted the business idea as a small WhatsApp experiment. His hypothesis: Customers want to buy all their medicines from one place and always seek quick, reliable deliveries.
“To validate this, I took orders via WhatsApp, promising fast delivery. On the very first day, I received more than 100 requests, and the next day, I sold medicines worth INR 10K. That’s when I realised there was a market here,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kenko halted operations last August as it ran out of funds and could not secure the insurance licence from the regulatory body. Sen joined the new venture in October after Priyadarshi learnt about Kenko’s shutdown and decided to bring his friend on board, drawn by his passion for the healthcare sector.
Coping With Limited Inventory And Logistics
Despite a clear-cut market opportunity, Plazza encountered a series of hurdles, ranging from inventory management to logistical roadblocks and the critical task of figuring out a sustainable business model.
The startup began as a platform that connected local pharmacies with end customers (basically, a medicine marketplace). But it quickly became clear that local pharmacies often struggled to provide medicines beyond common prescriptions.
“Take Bengaluru, for instance, a city with a robust market for dermatology products, especially skin and haircare items. But many local pharmacies don’t stock these products. Likewise, new moms frequently need specialised babycare items but fail to find them locally,” explained Priyadarshi.
Realising inventory management would be a major bottleneck, the founders pivoted and tied up with good-quality pharmacies. It also forged unique partnerships and launched Lifestores, a concept similar to Blinkit’s dark stores or mini-warehouses, enabling quick deliveries.
Plazza now operates within a limited delivery radius and uses bikes and Yulu EVs for deliveries. Delivery times are automatically calculated, factoring in customer location, traffic conditions, driver availability and packing time. The startup employs gig workers, keeping the business model asset-light. Its drivers also benefit from handling lighter loads and enjoy better work quality. The entire operation is managed in-house following a full-stack approach.
“Delivering medicines can be extremely challenging for several reasons. All team members are well-versed in critical details like drug expiration dates, alternative medicines and timely delivery. This isn’t a casual or luxury business. The stakes are incredibly high, and with our limited resources, it takes time to streamline processes,” added Priyadarshi.
What’s Next For Plazza?
The startup is poised for selective expansion, starting with Bengaluru, before branching into other cities metros like Delhi and Hyderabad and smaller markets such as Nagpur, Jamshedpur, Indore and Chandigarh. “Once we establish the product-market fit, we will expand strategically, learning from larger cities before entering smaller ones,” the founders said.
Setting up more Lifestores is another mandate to meet the unique challenges of quick commerce in the pharma space. Unlike grocery delivery, pharmaceutical/healthcare logistics requires a more nuanced approach and a skilled workforce to manage operations. Think of temperature-controlled storage and delivery, safe transportation, and other critical factors contributing to product efficacy and safety. Even slight deviations from regulatory standards can impact people’s health.
However, Priyadarshi noted that retail pharmacy is still stuck in the traditional mode, where small teams grapple with workload and compliance issues. Building a robust tech stack to handle operations can enhance efficiency, but creating the necessary infrastructure for every chemist is the biggest challenge. To empower pharmacies and distributors with advanced technology, Plazza founders are developing new-age ERPs and leveraging AI to streamline processes. Once these systems are up and running, they can convert prescriptions into carts in 0.4 seconds.
Each Lifestore is also expected to handle 500-600 orders daily, depending on its size and location, and will also serve walk-in customers. The startup aims to open 15 of these franchise stores in Bengaluru alone.
Additionally, the founders are exploring drone deliveries, although it may take a considerable period to fructify. For years, tech giants like Amazon, Alphabet and Uber promised their laden drones would land at our doorsteps, but they never did due to regulations. However, the delivery of medicines in minutes is a different ball game.
“We are working with a specialised team to overcome regulatory hurdles for specific use cases. For instance, we want to speed up deliveries from warehouses outside Bengaluru to the city or from retail outlets to hospitals in case of emergencies,” said Priyadarshi. “Critical medications for cancer treatment and post-operative recovery require faster deliveries, and drones are the solution.”
Going forward, Plazza plans to diversify its revenue model further by introducing additional healthcare services. Given its push to achieve early-stage growth, the revenue drive will be only too useful if it wants to go beyond deliveries and emerge as an all-encompassing healthcare service provider.
This brings the founders to a crunch situation – they must raise funding to scale up. “We are in talks with investors,” agreed Priyadarshi. “We still have the capital to set up at least two Lifestores. But additional resources will be required as we expand.”
The funding winter is, hopefully, over, and IPO-bound Zepto’s back-to-back funding rounds at a $5 Bn valuation augur well for the quick commerce sector as a whole. But will there be investor interest in a virtually new category while others have trodden the safe path and taken to medicine delivery as an add-on?
[Edited By Sanghamitra Mandal]