Rio Health Secures $4.5M to Expand Medicine Delivery in Delhi-NCR

Rio Health, a fast-commerce platform specializing in medicine and healthcare essentials, announced on Thursday that it has raised $4.5 million (Rs 43.08 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round. The investment was led by Version One Ventures, with participation from existing backers including Xeed Ventures, Good Capital, and Amplify. This round was fully equity-based and is now closed.

The new capital will be directed towards expanding Rio Health’s footprint within the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR). Currently operating three dark stores, the company plans to increase its locations to more than fifteen. Alongside physical growth, the funds will support enhancements in the company’s technology platforms for order processing, inventory management, and delivery logistics. Rio Health aims to achieve an annual run rate exceeding Rs 150 crore within the next nine to twelve months.

Before this round, Rio Health had secured Rs 19.16 crore from previous funding efforts. Including the recent infusion, the company’s total funding now stands at Rs 62.24 crore. The platform currently manages over 30,000 orders monthly, with an average order value between Rs 600 and Rs 700. Notably, repeat customers contribute to roughly 80 percent of these orders, indicating strong user retention.

Founded by entrepreneurs Ankur Agrawal and Amit Ahuja, Rio Health offers medicine and healthcare product deliveries across the Delhi-NCR region, promising delivery times of 20 to 30 minutes. Customers can place orders by speaking or typing in Hindi, English, or Hinglish, or by uploading a photo of their prescriptions. The company uses an AI-driven system to identify prescribed medicines and automatically generate orders. Each order is then reviewed by a licensed pharmacist to ensure accuracy and safety.

Each dark store services an area with a radius of approximately three kilometers. Rio Health uses hyperlocal demand data to anticipate medicine needs in various neighborhoods, allowing it to stock its stores efficiently. The inventory includes over 20,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs), with less common medicines procured through an extensive distributor network.

Commenting on the recent funding, Ankur Agrawal stated, "Pharmacy is one of the clearest applications for quick commerce. However, medicine delivery often forces customers to compromise between speed and availability. We are building Rio Health to address both challenges. This capital injection will enable us to advance our technology, improve neighborhood-level demand forecasting, and extend dependable medicine delivery to more customers throughout Delhi-NCR."

Boris Wertz, partner at Version One Ventures, added, "India’s pharmacy sector is ripe for quick commerce solutions, but success requires more than just fast delivery. It demands a broad product selection, precise local demand forecasting, and strong operational discipline. Rio Health has demonstrated promising traction, consistent repeat usage, and thoughtful capital management through its initial three dark stores."

The quick commerce segment in healthcare is gaining attention as consumers increasingly expect rapid and reliable delivery of essential products. By combining AI technology with a network of localized dark stores, Rio Health is positioning itself to meet growing demand in a market where convenience and speed are critical. The infusion of new capital is expected to accelerate the company’s expansion and technological capabilities, potentially setting new standards for medicine delivery services in urban India.