1st November 2023
ICMG Partners Co., Ltd.
ICMG Co-creation Fund I Investment LP
We are pleased to announce that ICMG Co-Creation Fund I Investment LP, managed by ICMG Partners Co., Ltd. (HQ: Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Director: Gen Funahashi) has invested into SAVEO Healthtech Private Limited (41-3-79/2, Mysore Rd, New Timberyard Layout, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560026), together with co-investors, Alkemi Growth Capital, Peer Capital and follow-on investors, RTP Global and LC Nueva, in the Series A fundraising round. The company is supported by several other reputed VCs like Matrix Partners and India Quotient.
SAVEO is an Indian startup operating a B2B managed marketplace for pharmacies primarily outside Tier 1 regions to procure prescription and non-prescription drugs., Saveo has built an one-stop distribution and marketing platform that digitizes the entire pharma supply-chain from drug manufacturers/brands to stockists/wholesalers to pharmacies. In addition to utilizing an unique just-in-time asset-light procurement model that takes no inventory risk, the company has made it possible to centralize the distribution of SKUs online by using its own fulfillment center as a hub.
<Left> Founding Team of SAVEO (Vivek Jaiswal (CEO), Shivansh Shrivastava (COO), Amit Kumar (CTO), and Anurag Savarnya (CBO) <Right> Investment Team of ICMG Partners (Gen Funahashi, Founder, 2nd from right) Photos taken at ICMG Singapore Office and SAVEO India Office respectively |
The pharmacy retail market in India, including exports, has a TAM of $60 billion and is expected to grow to $120 billion over the next five years. However, it is highly fragmented across the supply chain (200K+ SKUs, 80K+ distributors, 1Mn+ pharmacies). Under these market conditions, players such as pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies are in disarray, and this is especially true for the unorganized mom-and-pop pharmacies. Of the 1 Mn+ pharmacies in the Indian market, organized market accounts for 13% of the total (of which 3% are e-pharmacies), while the remaining 87% are unorganized offline pharmacies. As a result, these standalone pharmacies are responsible for procuring medicines, maintaining, and building their own networks for procurement, and managing their own inventory. This results in end-users not having access to the medicines when they need, resulting in a very low fill rate of 60-65%.
To address these problems, SAVEO has developed an online platform which is a one-stop distribution supply chain helping pharmacies by providing superior experience (better fill rates, JIT delivery, etc.) and better product discovery (with 50K+ SKUs listed on platform).. The current platform has showcased a strong market fit and achieved high usability. While currently focused on 2 major states, the company plans to expand its services to across India and expects to further strengthen its brand power through the accumulation of purchasing data.
The significance of this investment lies in the elimination of the weak supply chain around pharmacies in India utilizing SAVEO’s just-in-time model. This will not only help unorganized offline pharmacies meet their fill rates and demand (SDG No. 8) by establishing an efficient distribution supply chain (SDG No. 9) but also ensure consistent nation-wide access to vital medications for end-users during their time of need (SDG No. 3).
ICMG Group aims to contribute to the development of local industries by supporting the growth of the economic environment through SAVEO. By leveraging its extensive network of large Japanese companies, ICMG Group will further explore the possibility of expanding healthcare-related products distributed in Japan to India. This initiative will not only provide support for Japanese companies to enter the Indian market, but also contribute to the expansion of SAVEO’s GMV.
【About SAVEO】
SAVEO was co-founded in August 2019 in Bangalore, India, by 4 Founders, namely Vivek Jaiswal (CEO), Amit Kumar (CTO), Anurag Savarnya (CSO), and Shivansh Shrivastava (COO). All Founders are graduates of the Indian Institute of Technology from various regions. Vivek and Anurag come from families with medical background and expertise in the Indian healthcare industry, while Amit has a tech background and Shivansh is a member with experience in running tech companies.
Saveo provides pharmacies, retailers, and healthcare organizations with a pharmaceutical distribution platform through a mobile application designed to deliver medicines quickly and securely. The company has over 100 employees and is growing rapidly in the Indian market.
【About ICMG Group】
ICMG Group has been leading co-creative innovation not only in Japan but also in Southeast Asia and US together with various stakeholders such as leading Japanese big corporations, startups, and government agencies. ICMG Group has also carried out renewable energy investment projects in Southeast Asia with Tokyo Electric Power Company and Chubu Electric Power Co, formed a strategic partnership in Singapore with UNDP to promote the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and launched the sustainable city initiative project in Japan with Aichi Prefectural Government. ICMG Co-Creation Fund aims to create a sustainable society by providing growth capital and strong partner network of leading Japanese corporations to startups that solve social issues.
【About ICMG Co-Creation Fund】
ICMG Co-Creation Fund was launched in May 2021 and is being managed by ICMG Partners as the General Partner. The Limited Partners are Japan Airport Terminal, which operates Haneda Airport Terminal Building and its group company Haneda Future Research Institute(LP investment from Japan Airport Terminal), and Kiraboshi Bank, which aims to become “a comprehensive service provider with strong financial capabilities”. The fund aims to build an ecosystem that leads a sustainable future by encouraging co-creation between startups that solve social issues beyond industries and Japanese large companies. In addition to providing startups with speedy growth capital, we also aim to provide growth support by offering collaboration opportunities with ICMG Group’s network of Japanese large companies.