Prashant Tandon founded 1mg with his IITIAN friends Gaurav Agarwal, and Vikas Chauhan in 2015, which was later acquired by TATA Digital in 2021 and was renamed Tata 1mg. The startup became a unicorn in 2022.
AASHISH KUMAR JHA | Apr 30, 2023 |
Meet Prashant Tandon: Revolutionizing India’s Healthcare Industry, Built a Medicine-Based Start-Up worth 10000 Crores+
Prashant Tandon: Prashant Tandon is a well-known name in the Indian startup ecosystem, thanks to his pioneering work in the healthcare sector. He is the founder of Tata 1mg, an online pharmacy platform that has become a game-changer in India’s healthcare industry. In 2022, Tata 1mg entered India’s unicorn list, with a valuation of over $1 billion. In this article, we will take a closer look at the journey of Prashant Tandon and his brainchild, Tata 1mg. Prashant Tandon, the founder of Tata 1mg, is a visionary entrepreneur who has revolutionized India’s healthcare sector.
The last few years have highlighted the importance of a robust healthcare system. Similarly, as internet speeds have increased, new e-commerce platforms have emerged, making life easier for everyone. Riding the bandwagon of the online marketplace, Prashant Tandon created 1mg in an effort to boost awareness about drugs and provide a one-stop online solution to clients across India for their instant pharmaceutical needs. With his innovative approach, Prashant has transformed the traditional way of buying medicine by creating an online pharmacy platform that helps supply medicine to consumers.
Prashant Tandon was born and brought up in Delhi, India. He pursued BTech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Delhi. He obtained his BTech Degree in 2002. At IIT Delhi, Prashant was an avid sports lover and also captained the IIT Delhi Basket Ball team. He also obtained an MBA degree from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, California, in 2007.
Prashant joined Unilever India in 2002 as a Business Leadership Trainee. He became a Production Manager in July 2003 and was promoted to Regional Production Manager in 2004. Prashant joined McKinsey & Company as a Summer Associate in 2006. Prashant worked as a Vice President at MapMyIndia for a short duration. In 2007, he joined McKinsey & Company as a Senior Associate. He worked there until he founded his own startup.
While working with McKinsey, he realized that the Indian health sector was one of the most unorganized sectors, and obtaining high-quality health items was a major challenge. Another significant challenge was the need for more access to high-quality products from around the world, particularly in Tier II and Tier III cities. There was clearly a severe need for a company that could provide something in this category. Being a health-conscious individual, Prashant has always desired to work in the Healthcare industry. The best aspect was that Prashant had worked in the Healthcare sector for quite some time. Hence, as he recognized an opportunity, he decided to begin his entrepreneurial journey in the healthcare domain.
Realizing the need for an online health-based startup, Prashant founded HealthKart with his friend from IIT Delhi named Vikas Chauhan in 2011. The online platform was raised to create awareness about general healthcare, health diets, and drugs. Their third friend from IIT Delhi, Gaurav Agarwal, joined the startup in 2013. The platform helped consumers learn about their medications and compare the prices of numerous alternatives for the brand they were prescribed. The platform became an instant hit and many consumers started enquiring whether the platform could help them access the medicines conveniently.
Observing the demand for an online pharmacy, in 2015, HealthKart Plus was rebranded as 1mg, and it became a standalone entity. Fulfilling the demand of the customers, the 1mg platform made authentic and quality medicines available for consumption. Prashant Tandon wanted to create a platform that not only helped users find and purchase medicines online but also provided them with access to high-quality healthcare information. The new platform was a huge success within a year of its launch. Understanding the enormous potential of the start-up, TATA Digital, a 100% subsidiary of Tata Group holding entity Tata Sons, acquired a majority stake in 1mg in 2021 and the name was modified to Tata 1mg.
Prashant Tandon, Gaurav Agarwal, and Vikas Chauhan founded Tata 1MG in 2015, which provides medicine delivery, health and wellness products, B2B distribution of pharmaceuticals and other healthcare items, diagnostics services, and telemedicine services. The startup has a supply network that spans over 20,000 postal codes as of 2022. As time is a crucial player in health-related issues, the platform also began offering 60-minute drug delivery in select locations, including the Delhi-NCR region. Tata 1mg has acquired many feathers in its cap just like its founder Prashant Tandon, the CEO of the company. Some major milestones achieved by Tata 1mg are listed below:
The success of Tata 1mg can be attributed to Prashant Tandon’s keen understanding of the healthcare sector and his ability to identify the needs of consumers. With the rising cost of healthcare in India, many people find it challenging to access affordable and quality healthcare services. Tata 1mg aims to solve this problem by providing a platform where people can easily buy medicine and other healthcare products online. Prashant Tandon’s journey from launching Healthkart Plus to creating Tata 1mg is an inspiring story of an entrepreneur who identified a need in society and took the initiative to solve it. His innovative approach to healthcare has not only transformed the online pharmacy industry in India but has also helped provide affordable and accessible healthcare to millions of people.
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