Toronto-based Mednow.ca, a virtual care and pharmacy tech startup that launched earlier this year, has raised a $6.5 million CAD seed round. This represents Mednow.ca’s first round of external fundraising.
“The soft launch has proved market demand and Mednow.ca is ready to scale nationally.”
Gravitas Securities led the financing, while a spokesperson for Mednow.ca refused to disclose other investors in the round. The spokesperson did note, however, that those investors are within Gravitas’ network. The seed round was oversubscribed, exceeding Mednow.ca’s original target of $3 million. The funding will be used to scale the startup’s platform across Canada.
Karim Nassar, CEO and co-founder of Mednow.ca, said the startup launched earlier this year to meet the new demand of Canadians for virtual access to pharmacy providers. Mednow.ca connects consumers with pharmacies, and provides free at-home delivery of medications and all pharmacy products. Its PillSmart system organizes medications by date and time. Through its telemedicine partner, Tia Health, Mednow.ca also facilitates free of charge virtual care visits.
“By leveraging existing relationships within our established network of over 60 independent pharmacies across Canada, we have been able to scale quickly and offer comprehensive patient-centred services, including virtual pharmacy and medical care, medication [and] prescription management, and robust delivery,” Nassar said.
Mednow.ca was co-founded by pharmacist Ali Reyhany who founded the Care Group of Pharmacies, the largest pharmacist controlled independent pharmacy chain in Canada that has over 60 locations. The startup’s other co-founder, Nassar, is a computer engineer and former executive of McKesson Canada, Air Liquide, and most recently, the Care Group of Pharmacies.
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The platform launched in Toronto and is currently only available in Ontario. With the new funding, it plans to expand to British Columbia and Nova Scotia in six to eight weeks. Mednow.ca is aiming to be available across Canada, including in the territories, by the end of 2020.
Other startups in Canada that are focused on connecting consumers with pharmacies include Vancouver-based PocketPills, which raised a $7.35 million Series A round in February, and Pillway, which uses artificial intelligence to offer a personalized pharmacy experience.
“Mednow.ca’s deep industry knowledge coupled with a growing demand for virtual care and pharmacy delivery makes it a very attractive opportunity in the Canadian investment landscape,” said Kia Besharat, senior managing director and head of capital markets origination at Gravitas. “The soft launch has proved market demand and Mednow.ca is ready to scale nationally.”
Image source Mednow.ca