Ex iGate CEO Phaneesh Murthy starts online healthcare venture

After a long and eventful innings in the IT sector, former iGate CEO Phaneesh Murthy has started a new company, PM Health and Life Care, an online pharmacy venture that would deliver drugs within committed delivery timelines.

Reportedly, the online pharmacy marketplace, is expected to debut in September and would deliver medicines across 10 cities, is raising $10 million from a clutch of investors. With its huge potential, organised pharma and wellness chains have attracted adequate attention of PE players.

Taking a stab at entrepreneurship, Murthy's venture capital firm PM Ventures, which he had incorporated in Bengaluru in 2000, will invest $2 million in the start-up.

Moreover, Tiger Ramesh, CEO, CSS Corp and Pune-based Opus Group Chairman Ramesh Mengawade have invested $1 million into the new venture.

Commenting on the new development, Murthy, who will be the Chairman of the new venture said, "The Indian pharmaceutical market is estimated to touch $56 billion by 2020. There is no trusted healthcare brand in the online pharmacy space. Buying medicines online is a different culture altogether. There is great scope as consumers are increasingly shopping online."

Speculations in the market is that, former iGate Marketing Head Hemant Bhardwaj will be the CEO while Anil Bajpai, who was SVP and Head of iTOPS delivery at iGate, will be the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the PM Health and Life Care.

Significantly, Indian Pharmacy Retail is fragmented with unorganised players accounting for over 95 per cent of the market. In 2005, Indians spent about 7 per cent of their disposable incomes on healthcare and this is expected to nearly double by 2025 which will be 13 per cent, as per the PwC report.