Founder of Healthkart, Sameer Maheshwari says that his firm will use the funds to enhance marketing initiatives and other offline expansions.
Healthkart, owned by Bright Lifecare Pvt.Ltd, an online health products vendor, has raised Rs. 80 crore, from the funding they got from Seqoia Capital India and Kae Capital among others in a Series E round, according to the documents with the registar of companies.
An email from Sameer Maheshawri says" firm will use the funds to enhance marketing initiatives and other offline expansions." Healthkart aims to add seven-eight more offline stores to the two they have, of 200-300 sq.ft size in the next six months. Maheshwari claims that Helhkart's topmost piority is fitness.
He says “Fitness is a very engaged and assistance-oriented category and customers trust us across their fitness lifecycle—from seeking advice from expert trainers/nutritionists, connecting with other fitness enthusiasts, specialist curation of products, customer reviews and buying authentic nutrition products,”
He further says " We plan to continue to expand into a wider range of nutrition products. The idea is that Healthkart should be able to address all preventive care and wellness needs of the consumer," Healthkart's website reflects that it specialises in selling consumeables such as protien suppliments and vitamins and has more than 200 brands and authorized vendors under its umberella.
Private-label nutrition and suppliment products like MuscleBlaze and Incredo are also under its wings. Maheshwari told Mint last year that private labels help his company to get 40-50% margins which are 30-40% cheaper than imported brands attracting duties. However, the amount of its business driven by private-label products was not revealed by the company.
Managing director of Sequoia Capital India Advisors, Shailesh Lakhani confirms the investment by saying " Healthkart has executed extremely well and carved out a valuable area in the online nutrition products and services market. We continue to believe they are on a unique path that will generate significant value,” Phyzo, was a business now closed, was launched by Healthkart. It was a mobile application which helpted the user to discover gyms, yoga classes and trains in their neighborhood.
Maheshwari says " Phyzo was an early initiative for us, where we experimented with an on-demand pay-per-use fitness model, and given that we saw stronger growth opportunities in other areas, we decided to discontinue the initiative,”
Founded in 2011 by Maheswari and Prashant Tandon, Healthkart raised $6 million by seperating its generic drug research business, HeathkartPlus as 1mg.com from existing investors. 1mg.com is under Tandon while Healthkart is under Maheshwari.
1mg Technologies Pvt. Ltd raised Rs. 100 crore from investors including Maverick Capital Ventures, the venture capital arm of U-based hedge fund Maverick Capital Ltd, in a Series B round from investors, besides existing investors Sequoia Capital and Omidyar Network. Global healhcare-focused fund HBM Healthcare Investments AG later invested in May for an unsclosed amount in the company.
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