Can Medicines Reach You as Fast as Groceries? DocPharma Says Yes

India has mastered speed in everyday essentials — groceries arrive in 10 minutes, meals in under 30. Yet, when it comes to essential medicines, delays of two to three days are still the norm.

This very inefficiency in India's pharmacy delivery system led to the creation of DocPharma, a quick-commerce healthcare infrastructure startup offering 30-minute prescription medicine deliveries.

Founded in early 2023 by Shashank Rai and Saquib Ali, DocPharma positions itself as the "AWS of medicine delivery," serving as the invisible backend for e-pharmacies, healthcare platforms, insurers, and hospitals across India.

Operating in more than 12 cities, the startup enables its B2B partners to fulfil prescription medicine orders within 30-60 minutes.

From Lockdown Deliveries to Disruption

The launch of DocPharma began during India's first COVID-19 lockdown. Trapped in an apartment complex of 1,500 flats, the founders noticed residents had no reliable access to medicines.

"From just those 1,500 flats, we generated around Rs 5 lakh in monthly business," Saquib says.

Inside DocPharma's 30-Minute Engine

The company operates through a hybrid model combining partnerships with local pharmacies and a growing network of dark stores to optimise last-mile delivery.

Once an order is placed through a partner platform, DocPharma's rule engine identifies the customer's location and dispatches a rider to the store with the most complete stock.

80%+ of orders are delivered in under 60 minutes, and the startup operates with an extremely low bounce rate across over 100,000 SKUs.

Market Opportunity

India's domestic pharmaceutical market is expected to reach USD 130 billion by 2030. DocPharma's monthly GMV has grown approximately 462% in FY25 compared to FY24.