During the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic, delivery services were among the few businesses that thrived. Seemingly overnight, consumers’ combined desire for safety and convenience led to a new normal by which food and groceries were ordered, rather than purchased in stores.
Somewhat more quietly, delivery services for prescriptions and medical supplies also picked up. While these options became popular among consumers, however, they have proven tricky for pharmacies to manage.
Pharmacy technicians spend their days managing delicate medication orders with patient health at stake. They cannot afford to be distracted by delivery logistics and driver issues, nor are they trained in these types of operations. Furthermore, it is not an efficient use of a pharmacy’s resources to occupy technicians’ time on delivery matters.
In Raleigh, eBoxchain has emerged as a promising startup addressing these issues. Earlier this month it received an investment from GrepBeat sister company Primordial.
Co-founded by Duke Fuqua alumni Suraj Chanda and Venkat Palabindala along with Sam Vijay, this startup provides delivery management solutions for independent pharmacies, first in the Triangle and now venturing to other parts of the Southeast. Recognizing the growing preference for product delivery in the medical space, the company aims to take the logistics off pharmacies’ hands with a platform that is trustworthy and easy to integrate.
The idea evolved in 2022 out of a meshing of different ventures by eBoxchain’s co-founders. Chanda, who is now CEO, had previously built a delivery logistics solution for power distribution, and had begun optimizing it for new purposes. Meanwhile Vijay, who now serves as CTO, had spent the early days of the pandemic on a project called Dal Chawal, which assisted ethnic restaurants and grocers in the Triangle with internet order systems.
Vijay and Chanda met when the former engaged Chanda about Dal Chawal making use of an early version of eBoxchain’s delivery logistics app. Before long, the pair had turned eBoxchain into a favored delivery partner for businesses like 1-800 Flowers and Which Wich in the Triangle.
Despite some success with food and flowers, however, Chanda and Vijay concluded that their model wasn’t providing specific value for customers.
As Vijay puts it, “We [did not] really make any difference to the quality the user experiences… if the food was bad, the customer is going to write bad reviews no matter what.”
Because of this realization, they decided to change course.
“Good entrepreneurs know how to pivot, and pivot quickly,” Vijay says, endorsing the old adage.
The third co-founder Palabindala, Chanda’s fellow Duke MBA, provided direction for the pivot. He recommended that the startup move into healthcare, and eBoxchain began reaching out to independent pharmacists. Eventually, one called them back. His driver was sick, and he wanted to know if eBoxchain could provide an alternate.
Chanda said no. Instead, he suggested that eBoxchain could take on the pharmacy’s deliveries itself. Just like that, the first customer was in the fold.
“All we needed was a break,” Vijay muses.
After that break, eBoxchain dove fully into prescription delivery. The first client increased its demand, and as eBoxchain proved its concept, more independent pharmacies showed interest. The company saw its first revenue in 2022, and more than tripled that revenue in 2023.
Goodbye, gig workers
The startup still faces stiff competition, including from two outfits backed by California VCs, while eBoxchain is still primarily at the friends-and-family funding stage aside from the Primordial investment. However, it has one crucial advantage over its well-funded rivals. eBoxchain’s competitors operate via the traditional “gig worker” model, contracting drivers much like UberEats. By contrast, eBoxchain’s services include vetting and HIPAA certification for drivers, who are typically employees of either the pharmacies or eBoxchain.
This distinction makes eBoxchain’s delivery proposition more trustworthy and efficient, the team believes. Pharmacists can feel confident in the drivers picking up medications, and patients are assured that their deliveries will arrive on time and as ordered. Vijay says that these specific advantages have helped the company win clients over from gig-style competitors—and the clients “aren’t going back.”
At this stage, eBoxchain is providing its expanding client base of independent pharmacies with three service options. The first is a “Full Service” option, through which the startup provides drivers and manages route planning, delivery execution, and customer service. The second is “Admin Service,” which allows partners to use their own drivers while eBoxchain handles planning, logistics, and support. And the third is “Software Service,” an option that enables clients to integrate the startup’s logistics software into their own systems to manage deliveries.
While all three options are currently available, Vijay points to the Admin Service as the bread and butter of eBoxchain’s near-future growth.
So far in 2024, the prospects for that growth look strong. Q1 put eBoxchain on pace to nearly double its revenue from 2023. And thanks to a new collaboration with Mutual Drug, a nonprofit that will promote eBoxchain to independent pharmacies, more business is likely on the way.
