Amit Choudhary is the Co-Founder & CEO of Dawaa Dost. Dawaa Dost is a Jaipur-based startup omni-channel pharmacy retail chain for generic medicines. It enables consumers to save 50 - 80 percent on high-quality and branded medicines. Presently, Dawaa Dost has 66 stores in Rajasthan, Karnataka, Telangana, and Maharashtra, and offers its services in 19,000 pin codes across India.
The Co-founder, Amit Choudhary is trying to solve four problems or challenges in the medicine part of healthcare through his startup Dawaa Dost. Dawaa Dost is a medicine friend.
Dawaa Dost solves four major problems in the medicine part of healthcare
1. Firstly, it solves the problem of affordability. In spite of India being the largest supplier of medicine globally, 68% of Indians can’t afford or don’t have access to medicines.
Amit says, “It’s our promise to customers that they save 50-80% on their entire prescription for their whole life.”
2. “Dawaa Dost solves the problem of availability. In India, the entire availability is inversely pyramid. Availability of medicines is not a problem in metros but it’s a huge problem in real Bharat. We are very much focused on providing this service to the interiors and hinterland of the country.”
3. Dawaa Dost provides awareness about medicines to its consumers. Dawaa Dost is the largest content owner of medicine globally through the platform Medwiki. Medwiki is the largest video library on medicine having 7.50,000 videos in six different Indian languages.
Amit adds, “We are trying to solve all the questions and queries related to medicine. By 2025, we will have more than 1 billion questions being answered.”
4. Lastly, Dawaa Dost is solving the problem of non-adherence to medicine. In India, only 6-7% of patients take medicine on time. Customers get a call reminding them to take their medicine. Taking medicines on time and avoiding skipping medicines are very important.
Prime USPs of Dawaa Dost
Amit emphasizes, “When you walk into Dawaa Dost, you are assured of saving 50% or more on your entire prescription and that is a promise that nobody else gives.”
The customer base of Dawaa Dost
To date, Dawaa dost has served around 3 crores of people and around 4 million people watch Medwiki every month on different platforms.
Funds and their utilization
Funds are being utilized to provide savings to consumers.
Revenues of Dawaa Dost
Dawaa Dost was close to 2 million dollars in revenues last year and this year they are upward around 10 million dollars. They grow 4X every year. They are targeting 500 million dollars by the end of the year 2026-2027.
Dawaa Dost aims to reach 100 crores of people and wants to provide 50% or higher savings.
Future expansion plans
Amit expresses, “Expansion works on driving reach. 3 crores people a month is our today’s reach. We want to take this to 20 crores people a month in the next 24 months. It is our short-term plan. It will be a digital reach, rural reach, and physical reach.”
Learnings for the budding entrepreneur
Amit concludes, “You must know how to ride a Ferrari as well as a bicycle. Always find a good co-founder, don’t try to do everything on your own. It helps you pick up the pace. It’s like 1+1=11. Growth comes with chaos. Embrace and encourage chaos.”
(Edited by Renu Gupta)