Medigo raised US$ 1 mil from Touchstone Partners to build a leading on-demand delivery & telemedicine in Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City, September 15 2021

Medigo, a Vietnam-based startup founded in 2019 with a vision of building a leading telemedicine platform in Vietnam and bringing high quality healthcare services to people, has recently raised a US$ 1 mil seed funding from Touchstone Partners. As the first step towards its long-term vision, Medigo connects customers with the nearest trusted pharmacies, providing on-demand medicine delivery 24/7. In the past 6 months, Medigo's GMV has increased 8 times with more than 200,000 users. In addition, pharmacies partnering with Medigo has seen their revenues increased by 20% to 50%.

In recent years, the demand for online healthcare in Vietnam is increasing, opening up many opportunities for local healthcare startups. According to BMI, revenue of pharmaceutical market in Vietnam increased at a CAGR of 11.8% in 2015-2019 (reached $5.5 billion in 2019) and is expected to recover to the two-digit growth rate after the slowdown following the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020-2021. Medigo has identified a unique local pain point: most Vietnamese go to pharmacies as the first touchpoint for their medical symptoms; while there are more branded chain pharmacies opening up, there are more than 30,000 independent pharmacies (VDSC) with unknown quality. To address both access and quality, Medigo app helps people find the nearest licensed pharmacies and order medicine to be delivered within 20 minutes. With more than 200 pharmacy partners including large pharmacy chains and hospital pharmacies in the 3 key cities of Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh city, Ha Noi and Da Nang), Medigo puts the safety of customers first and require partner pharmacies to be certified and licensed by the Ministry of Health with experienced and dedicated pharmacists.
Ha Le, an experienced engineer coming back to Vietnam from Germany, founder and CEO of Medigo said: “The inspiration for Medigo came from my own experience. One night, when my daughter was having a fever, I struggled to look for pharmacies that were still open to find medicine for her. A lot of people in the rural areas also still have to go to pharmacies in the city to get their medicine. And that’s when I wondered how come having access to medicine should be that difficult? What can we do with technology to help buying medicine in Vietnam to be a lot easier and more accessible? Furthermore, we want to use medicine delivery as a feature to educate users of online healthcare services and be familiar with remote pharmacists and doctors’ consultation, building a strong foundation for Medigo’s future telemedicine services.”
Tu Ngo, General Partner of Touchstone Partners, said: “We are impressed by Ha and his founding team’s expertise and passion for healthcare. The investment also aligns with our ESG-friendly investment principles, building a platform for affordable and accessible high-quality healthcare services to the mass in Vietnam. In the context of the COVlD-19 pandemic, Medigo is gaining a lot more traction by helping people buy medicine remotely without having to leave the home and we believe this trend will stay as we enter a re-opening period while still managing the pandemic in Vietnam.”

Both Touchstone Partners and Medigo have a common resonance, which is the desire and belief in technological innovations that can create great impact and benefits for the society. Recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Medigo and Touchstone Partners have partnered with local non-profits to deliver 10,000 medicine bags to support patients at home in Ho Chi Minh city.

About Medigo

Medigo is a medical technology platform in Vietnam founded in 2019 with the desire to create a platform that connects users with remote and high-quality healthcare services. The first step in its long-term vision, Medigo connects customers with the nearest trusted pharmacies, providing on-demand medicine delivery 24/7.
With great aspirations, Medigo has been making a difference by continuously improving, making creative efforts to optimize the user experience, being a bridge to facilitate users' access to healthcare services safely - quickly - conveniently and time-saving. With dedication, enthusiasm and long-term development strategies, Medigo hopes to contribute positive values to the community and society.

About Touchstone Partners

Touchstone Partners aims to be a leading early-stage VC investor in Vietnam to catalyze Vietnam’s tech ecosystem to new heights. Touchstone Partners aspires to be the local go-to partner for founders, through local insights and access and coupled with global networks and reach that resonate with founders’ needs and aspirations. Sectors of interest include fintech, real estate, healthcare, edtech, and technology that enhances efficiency in major Vietnamese value chains such as manufacturing and agriculture.

Founded and led by Khanh Tran and Tu Ngo, Touchstone Partners has received commitments from notable investors including Pavilion Capital, Vulcan Capital and several other institutional investors and family offices. Touchstone wants to be a force for positive social development and to set high standards for venture investing in Vietnam. We play a key role in supporting startups, prioritizing long-term cooperation, fairness, transparency and mutual respect.