Dawaai

Dawaai is a Karachi-headquartered, pharmacy-led healthcare group that sells medicines, personal care products and medical equipment through web and mobile platforms in Pakistan. It operates as a licensed pharmacy (License #1265, issued 12 March 2014) and registers tax under National Tax Number 423952-7. Customers order either by uploading a prescription or by searching and adding products to a cart; prescription medicines require a valid uploaded prescription before an order is confirmed. Qualified pharmacists handle procurement, storage and dispensing, and are reachable by phone from 09:00 to 21:00 Monday to Saturday.

Beyond pharmacy retail, the platform enables online doctor consultations, at-home health services such as nursing and physiotherapy, and booking of lab tests and checkups. Hospital and laboratory partners listed by the company include South City Hospital, Ziauddin Hospital, Chughtai Lab, National Institute of Blood & Diseases, and Dr. Essa Laboratory & Diagnostic Centre. The online catalogue spans prescription medicines, baby care, personal care, homeopathic and herbal products, nutrition and supplements, diagnostic devices and sexual wellness items, with brand-level discount vouchers tied to partner banks including Habib Metro, Meezan Bank, HBL and Standard Bank cards.

Delivery is handled by trained riders using temperature-controlled storage and sealed packaging; customers may refuse a package whose seal is tampered with, and medicines are non-returnable once accepted. The company runs a two-hour "Fast" delivery service for eligible products, and states that it delivers across 98 cities through multiple fulfillment centres, using its own fleet in some areas.

Founding story

Dawaai was founded by Furquan Kidwai, a Cambridge University graduate who relocated to Pakistan from London after working at Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and RBS. Press coverage of the 2021 round dates the founding to early 2014, while investor Sarmayacar lists a December 2013 founding date. The company's pharmacy licence (#1265) was issued in March 2014.

Business model

Dawaai sells medicines, personal care goods and medical equipment directly to individual consumers and to MSMEs such as pharmacies, combining B2C and B2B channels. It procures directly from pharmaceutical manufacturers and their large distributors, holds inventory in warehouses and fulfillment centres in several cities, and dispenses through qualified pharmacists. Adjacent services — online doctor consultations, at-home nursing and physiotherapy, and lab test booking — are layered onto the pharmacy base, targeting repeat chronic-condition patients.

Revenue comes from the sale of medicines, personal care products and medical equipment to retail consumers and to pharmacies/MSMEs via its platform, with product-level discounts and bank-partner voucher promotions applied at checkout; additional services such as doctor consultations, home health services and lab tests are booked through the same platform.

Traction

As of the 2021 funding announcement, Dawaai said it had served 11 million people in Pakistan over the preceding seven years via its website and apps, delivered medicines in 98 cities, grew revenue 350% in the prior twelve months, and grew headcount from 15 employees about two years earlier to 250. Teleconsultations on the platform were described as reaching tens of thousands of monthly sessions, and the founder said some participating doctors had doubled their income.

Latest developments

Following its $8.5 million raise led by 500 Startups, Dawaai said it would use the proceeds to build out pharmaceutical supply chain infrastructure in Pakistan and further develop its technology. Its consumer site currently offers pharmacy ordering with prescription upload, doctor consultations, at-home services and lab tests and checkups, alongside bank-partner discount vouchers.