Digital marketplace Pharmacy Marts secured six-figure Bridge funding from Acasia Ventures

The digital marketplace Pharmacy Marts, situated in Cairo, has received a bridge round investment of six figures from Acasia Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm.

Pharmacy Marts wants to increase patient access to medication by digitizing the supply chain in the pharmaceutical industry. These days, manually checking stock levels, pricing and availability of products takes up an average of thirty percent of a pharmacist’s time. Because of this and the fragmentation of the industry—there are currently 60,000 pharmacies in Egypt that sell over 7,000 products from 3,000 suppliers—medication delivery is delayed. The more significant warning is that Pharmacy Marts plays a crucial role in this process because the communication amongst all of these parties is still largely manual and dependent on phone calls.

Established in January 2021, the platform enables pharmacists to conduct online searches for products that are missing from their inventory, identify suppliers that carry those products, get an estimate of which supplier best suits their needs in terms of both cost and turnaround time, order those missing items, select their preferred method of payment, and receive their orders in a day or two. By giving pharmacists access to working capital and long-term financing, including “Buy Now, Pay Later” options, it also addresses the problem of pharmacists not being able to negotiate fair financing terms with wholesalers.

Currently, Pharmacy Marts has over 200 suppliers on its platform and covers about 12,000 pharmacies in Egypt or 20% of the entire market.

“The distribution of medication in Egypt is not reliable or smooth, but rather plagued with the inconsistent availability of products across pharmacies and geographical areas, leading to a shortage in medication,” CEO and co-founder of Pharmacy Marts Ahmed Kadous states. “This ultimately impacts the patients who need the medication and makes the life of a pharmacist rather difficult. We are excited about having Acasia Ventures on board, given its great presence in African markets that we are planning to enter, as well as its solid network of advisors and experts in the pharmaceutical industry.”

Pharmacy Marts has received investments totalling $2 million from local, regional, and international venture capitalists thus far.