Tata Digital on Thursday said it will acquire a majority stake in digital health company 1MG Technologies. This is the third major acquisition by Tata Digital after bigbasket and CureFit.

Incorporated in 2015, 1MG is a leading player in the eHealth space and enables easy and affordable access to a wide range of products like medicines, health and wellness products, diagnostics services and tele-consultation to customers. The company operates 3 state-of-the-art diagnostics labs, has a supply chain covering over 20,000 pincodes across the country and through its subsidiaries is also engaged in the business of B2B distribution of medicines and other healthcare products.

“The investment in 1MG is in line with Tata Group’s vision of creating a digital ecosystem which addresses the consumer needs across categories in a unified manner. e-pharmacy, e-diagnostics and tele-consultation are critical segments in this ecosystem and have been among the fastest growing segments in this space, as this sector enabled access to healthcare through the pandemic,” Tata Digital said in a press release.

$1 billion market

The overall market is around $1 billion and expected to grow at 50 per cent CAGR driven by increased health awareness among consumers and greater convenience. This category will form a key element of the Tata Digital ecosystem offering.

Commenting on the investment, Pratik Pal, CEO of Tata Digital, said, “The investment in 1MG strengthens Tata’s ability to provide superior customer experience and high quality healthcare products & services in e-pharmacy and e-diagnostics space through a technology led platform.”

Also read: Tata Digital to invest $75 million in CureFit

Prashant Tandon, Co-Founder and CEO at 1MG, said, “We are delighted to join hands with one of India’s most iconic & respected conglomerates. This marks a significant milestone in 1MG’s journey to make high quality healthcare products & services accessible to customers across India.”

The acquisition is part of Tata Sons' plan to build a digital platform that would make available a range of products and services, including food and grocery, consumer durables, financial services, education, and healthcare on a single super app. The first part of this plan was to restructure various group companies to derive synergies. For example, consumer products under Tata Chemicals and Tata Global Beverages were brought under a new company — Tata Consumer Products. The second part was to plug gaps in the existing portfolio through acquisitions.

In February, Tata Consumer Products said it will acquire Bengaluru-based Kottaram Agro Foods for ₹155.8 crore. KAF makes healthy breakfast cereals and millet-based snacks under the trademark Soulfull. The Tatas are also planning to apply for a new umbrella entity licence that will enable digital payments.

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