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Jio platform which is the subsidiary of Reliance industries is planning to become number 1 in the Business to Customer platform. They are working on a three-point strategy. The first step is in the health sector is by acquiring Netmeds.

As per reports Jio platforms wants to be number one in the B2C category. As per some reports Jio may kick off its acquisition spree in B2C by acquiring the e-pharmacy business Netmeds. The giant company which has already won the telecom war in the country is now going to conquer the consumer space. Jio has a total of 24 digital platforms of which only 2 are in the leading category. Jio wants to expand its reach to the consumers and hit the number 1 slot.

Jio has a whopping 15.2 Billion dollar pumped into its platforms and the company is planning to use that kind of money for acquisitions in the customer services and tech products space.

According to a Business Standard reports, Jio wants to boost the adoption of many of its consumer facing apps in terms of active users. Their first focus in the acquisition spree is going to be online pharmacy and telemedicine.

Jio has 24 apps on its platform and according to the data acquired from sources like Similar Web and Google Play Store only 2 categories are in the leading position in the apps world. One of the leading apps is Jio Saavan which is a music streaming app. The video streaming app called Jio Cinema is way behind on the 18th position. Jio also has an edtech platform called Embibe which has just one-fifth of the traction compared to other Edtech platforms like BYJU’s, Vedantu and Unacademy.

Jio is working on 1 three-point strategy to grow its business. The first one is to definitely hit the number one slot in B2C category. It has only 2 digital apps which are in the leading position and it clearly wants to be number one in at least five to six of its properties. The second strategy is to go aggressively for acquisitions to reach the top slot and also to enter new niches in the market if that’s what it needs to hit number one. Third is to deploy a combination of subscription as well as digital advertising revenue by leveraging the monetization of apps. All of these 3 strategies are o make it reach the number one slot in B2C category.

For now the health app which is the JioHealthHub is said to be the top focus. It has close to 10,000 active users and 1 million downloads. They want to grow this by acquiring Netmeds e-pharmacy which is founded by Pradeep Dadha. Acquiring Netmeds will help Jio compete with other similar platforms like 1mg, Pharmeasy, Medlife and many other online pharmacy platforms. According to certain reports the two are already in the final stages of acquisition talks. Jio is said to be close to acquiring Netmeds for 130 to 150 Million dollars. This amount is a slight premium to its previous funding round. Netmeds is a Chennai Based start-up which has 4 million customers and allows them to buy medicines online, get monthly subscription, book lab test, health check-up and also consult verified doctors online.

There have been no confirmations from either side of the table. When reliance declined to comment, the founder of Netmeds Pradeep Dadha said ‘It would not be productive to comment on media speculations at this stage.’

After the Online pharmacy, Reliance may also enter agritech space with a Jio Krishi app as well as a Helo farmer’s app. This would definitely help farmers take data driven decisions.

By Deepika Agarwal