Ratan Tata invests in 18-year old Arjun Deshpande’s Generic Aadhaar to bring affordable medicines to masses

Leading business icon and philanthropist Ratan Tata in his personal capacity has invested an undisclosed amount in 18 year old’ innovative pharmaceutical venture Generic Aadhaar. The company is run by Founder and CEO, Arjun Deshpande who began his venture at the age of 16 years with the sole aim of bringing affordable medicines to the masses. The start-up boasts of an annual revenue of 6cr and is looking at a revenue of 150- 200 cr in the next three years.

Under Generic Aadhaar, the company provides quality and affordable medication directly from WHO-GMP facility and has tied up with 30 retailers from Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Odisha following a profit-sharing model.

On this occasion, Arjun Deshpande, Founder and CEO, opined, “With Generic Aadhaar, we are all set to bring a new revolution in the pharmaceutical industry. Our unique business model gives us an edge over any other players in the market currently as we aim to bring affordable healthcare to millions of households. Our mission is to provide senior citizens and pension holders the care they deserve with our idea of delivering inexpensive medicines which are required on a daily basis.”

He further adds, “When Sir Ratan Tata came to know about the business plan, he was impressed and decided to be a part of this mission in a personal capacity and help Generic Aadhaar to reach every Indian.”

A survey stated that 60 per cent of Indians cannot afford proper medication due to their high market price and hence fall behind to deliver basic healthcare needs to people. Generic Aadhaar steps in to solve this problem as it aims to partner with 1000 pharmacies on a franchisee-based model in the coming months and expand their reach to markets like to Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, New Delhi, Goa, Rajasthan, Gujarat. Generic Aadhaar will provide all the support to the unorganized sector by bringing the right technology, IT infrastructure and branding to the forefront. The company has about 55 employees, which include pharmacists, IT engineers and marketing professionals. In association with Mr. Tata, this revolutionary startup aims to spread its wings in every city in India.

Generic Aadhaar supplies diabetes and hypertension drugs but will soon start offering cancer drugs at rates much lower than the market price. It has a tie up with four WHO-GMP certified manufacturers in Palghar, Ahmedabad, Pondicherry and Nagpur.

The medicines sold at Generic Aadhaar are sold at 20 per cent – 30 per cent percent lesser than the market price. These medicines are sourced from WHO-GMP certified manufacturers to reduce the cost and make it pocket friendly for the consumers and the medical stores are able to increase their margins by using the Generic Aadhaar branding.

Generic Aadhaar offers a huge portfolio of branded, generic, homoeopathy, and Ayurveda medicines from government-approved manufacturing facilities. With an initial investment of Rs.15 lakhs from his family, the start-up was successful in clocking revenue of Rs. 40 Lakhs in the previous fiscal year. Generic Aadhaar has kept revenues high with the zero-investment, asset-light model. It works on a profit-sharing agreement with its franchisees providing them with the required software and technology to operate business. Currently, there are 35 franchisees of Generic Aadhaar across Mumbai with plans to expand into other metros.

“We are creating an ecosystem in the pharma industry. We franchise our brand, Generic Aadhaar, and we train the store-owners to source quality medicines from manufacturing sites. We also help them market their stores and offer ecommerce capabilities. We have an online pharmacy that offers two-hour delivery at a customer’s doorstep,’ Deshpande stated.