This week, the on-demand pharmacy app NowRx received $7 million in Series A funding for their same-day and same-hour prescription medication delivery system. This marked the largest healthcare crowdfunding round to date at SeedInvest.com and will be used by NowRx to nurture technology development and expansion of the delivery system to new areas in California.
NowRx’s unique system provides customers with fast and convenient drug deliveries that save costs associated with the traditional pharmacy model. It is the only company offering not only same-day delivery, but it even has a one-hour option as well. The company launched in 2016 and has since filled over 50,000 prescriptions to more than 8,600 customers, and has received prescriptions from over 1,900 physicians. NowRx also sees in $5 million a year in revenue.
“In pharmacy, and healthcare generally, same-day/same hour delivery is about much more than just customer convenience – it can often be absolutely vital. NowRx is solving this critical last-mile delivery challenge while setting a new bar for customer convenience,” said Cary Breese, CEO of NowRx. “That’s why we saw the record-breaking response to our latest crowdfunding round. We have reconceived the pharmacy model, taking the best of the offline, brick-and-mortar world and combining it with the best of the online world in order to create something truly unique, disruptive – and highly desired by consumers.”
NowRx is currently licensed to fill prescriptions in California and certified via SureScripts pharmacy management software. The system allows doctors to fill prescriptions electronically for on-demand delivery in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, but not in the city of San Francisco. Same-day delivery is offered as a free service, and one-hour delivery is available for a $5 fee.
With this funding, NowRx plans to complete its out-of-state expansion by late next year or early 2020. To do so, NowRx will need to increase its warehouse capacity and number of pharmacy facilities. Breese claims the crowdsourcing route was best because of better terms, not needing to give up a board seat, and no adverse entrepreneurial terms.
This month, its users will have the option to order prescription medications via a virtual home assistant, such as the Amazon Echo or Google Home. A robot then registers to the request and dispenses the medication within minutes, and a car will deliver it within hours.
NowRx is also the first voice application for medication ordering. When a user downloads NowRx, they will be able to use a voice command with voice recognition devices such as Google Home or Amazon Echo and request, renew, or refill prescriptions by providing the last four digits of their prescription number. The Silicon Valley startup is awaiting approval from Google and Amazon, but is expecting approval within the next few weeks.
NowRx is among a handful of startup companies looking to challenge the traditional pharmacy system. Breese claims the company is currently providing 125 prescriptions a day with its Mountain View based pharmacy. Current marketing campaigns target consumers through Facebook ads that allow them to request their doctor to use NowRx.
“We have been very impressed with Cary and the NowRx team’s ability to consistently grow revenues,” said Ryan Feit, CEO and Co-Founder of SeedInvest. “We were thrilled to have NowRx return to SeedInvest and raise the largest round to date for a HealthTech company.”
Congrats @NowRx Team for raising the largest healthcare round ever on @Seedinvest ! https://t.co/lbldiAODAL
— NowRx (@NowRx) October 16, 2018
Sources: BusinessWire, TechCrunch, CNBC
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