Vietnam-based pharmaceutical marketplace raises $9m series A

BuyMed – known as Thuocsi in Vietnam – has bagged US$9 million in series A funding led by South Korea’s Smilegate Investment, according to an announcement, with participation from B Capital Group and existing investors Cocoon Capital, Genesia Ventures, Sequoia Capital India’s Surge and Nextrans.

Photo credit: Thuocsi

Launched in 2017, Thuocsi runs a business-to-business marketplace that connects pharmacies, clinics, and small drugstores with licensed distributors. It provides automatic matching of orders and end-to-end logistics to streamline the process of supplying pharmaceuticals in Vietnam.

With this new round, Thuocsi has raised US$12 million in total disclosed funding. In 2020, it secured US$2.5 million in a pre-series A round led by Sequoia Capital India’s Surge and Genesia Ventures.

Thuocsi said it now runs two distribution centers in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, allowing it to deliver products across 63 provinces and cities. It currently processes about 30,000 orders per month and has shipped supplies and pharmaceuticals to over 13,000 pharmacies across Vietnam.

The startup has opened a new delivery hub in Dong Nai, a province about 30 kilometers outside of Ho Chi Minh City, to handle orders from southern provinces. Ho Chi Minh City is currently a Covid-19 hotspot, where over 220,000 cases have been recorded since the fourth outbreak started in April.

Thuocsi was founded by Peter Nguyen, Vu Vuong, and Hoang Nguyen, who all have experience in healthcare and management. Hoang Nguyen also co-founded Dentalaborate, an on-demand platform in the US that helps dentists produce crowns in an hour.