Clinical supplies e-commerce startup PinkBlue raises $224K in seed funding

Bangalore-based Pink Blue Supply Solutions Pvt Ltd, that operates clinical supplies e-commerce platform Pinkblue.in, has raised around $223608 (Rs 1.5 crore) in seed funding from a bunch of angel investors, facilitated by startup investment platform Termsheet.io.

Dubai-based lawyer Hari Krishna and a group of unnamed investors led the investment round that also saw the participation of Ajay Modani, founder of Cookifi and Capillary Technologies, Dr V Ravinder, Anirudh Rastogi, Abhishek Jain, Rakesh Gakhar, Rajeev Mudumba, Nagendra Prasad Bhanuprakash and ShashiKant Singh.

The funds raised will be used to scale up operations, augment the technology infrastructure, expanding operational capabilities and customer acquisition, it said in a statement.

Founded in January 2014 by IIM Kozhikode alumni Valliappan Kumarappan and Varun Singh, PinkBlue.in also provides SaaS-based materials management software to enhance the supply chain management capabilities of both hospitals and medical supply manufacturers. The venture also helps manufacturers address the high levels of fragmentation in the space, as managing distribution becomes a nightmare. Smaller distributors lead to most of the manufacturers' sales teams focusing on distribution-related activities.

The company, which currently has more than 1500 customers, hopes to increase this number by 10,000 before the end of this year. The team aims to achieve an annual revenue run rate of $4 million (around Rs 27 crore) in the next 6-12 months.

"A platform like ours helps manufacturers deal with these twin problems a lot more effectively – get their messages across to a large portion of their customers rapidly, and also have a more reliable channel for supplying their products to customers across the country," said Varun Singh, co-founder of PinkBlue.

"It's one of those areas that founders and investors tend to avoid because of the perceived challenges associated with taking on entrenched players," said Sonia Pradhan, chief operating officer of Termsheet.io.

Founded in 2013 by Sonia Pradhan and National Law School alumni Vivek Durai, Termsheet.io is an early stage fund raising platform that connects angel investors and startups. It provides investors with a filtered list of startups that have been pre-vetted by its deal team. Right from the startup discovery to the legal documentation, Termsheet.io takes care of the entire process on its platform.

The company claims to have more than 450 investors on its network. TermSheet.io has till date closed nine seed investments.