Tata Digital to acquire majority stake in online pharmacy 1mg

Tata Digital, the subsidiary of Tata Sons, said on Thursday it is acquiring a majority stake in digital health startup 1mg, the latest in a series of investments as the salt-to-steel Indian conglomerate

enters the digital consumer space

.

The firms didn’t share the financial details of the deal, but earlier local media reports suggest that Tata Digital was planning to invest between $100 million to $110 million in the six-year-old Indian startup for 65% stake. TechCrunch understands the investment size is significantly smaller. A spokesperson for Tata Digital declined to comment. 1mg didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to insight firm Tracxn, 1mg had raised $156 million prior to Thursday’s announcement and was last valued at $242 million. This would suggest that Tata Digital is buying 1mg, which counts Bill Melinda Gates Foundation and Sequoia Capital India among its investors, at a discount.

1mg is one of the largest players in the health space in India. The startup operates diagnostics labs, has a supply chain that covers over 20,000 Indian zipcodes, and is a major business-to-business distributor of medicines in the South Asian nation.

Tata Digital said its investment in 1mg is in line with the giant’s “vision of creating a digital ecosystem which addresses the consumer needs across categories in a unified manner.” The giant, which announced plans to invest in fitness startup CureFit earlier this week,

acquired a majority stake in online grocer BigBasket

earlier this year.

“We are delighted to join hands with one of India’s most iconic and respected conglomerates,” said Prashant Tandon, co-founder and chief executive of 1mg, in a statement. “This marks a significant milestone in 1mg’s journey to make high quality healthcare products and services accessible to customers across India.”

This is a developing story. More to follow…