There are two types of businesses you don't want to be in if you're an entrepreneur. One where there is considerable demand, but you can't figure out how to fulfil it without losing your shirt. Ride-hailing fits the bill perfectly. Then there is the other kind where the economics don't make sense for a different reason. If ride-hailing is a crappy bet despite the demand, teleconsultation is just as tough a nut to crack because there aren't enough takers to build a business at scale.
Yes, this is after the pandemic made us more comfortable with doing everything online. So why did MediBuddy, a largely B2B health-tech start-up valued at over $400 million, buy a little-known telemedicine company, Clinix, in July? Especially when Clinix operates in 20 tier-2 cities and towns, where people are even less keen on consulting doctors online than their counterparts living in metros. And why does MediBuddy want to go from servicing corporate clients such as Infosys and JP Morgan to wooing small-town folk?
It does make one very curious.
As a founder of another healthtech company focussed on the rural segment, patients used to government health facilities find no value in paying for consults over a video call no matter how low the price point.
Can MediBuddy's prospects be any better in its other verticals, including selling medicines and lab tests? Even with logistics not being a problem in big cities, the biggies in the space, such as Pharmeasy and Tata 1mg and others in the market, are scrambling to find the right recipe for the long term
