Rappi, a Latin American technology company that earned the “unicorn” rating for its ready-to-serve and grocery delivery services, has a new idea: home doctor visits and prescription medications ordered through its application for mobile phones.
The Colombian-based delivery service is partnering with French biopharmaceutical giant Sanofi to offer health care services in Latin America. The company will initially offer over-the-counter health care products to the consumer, Sanofi said in a statement, without disclosing the financial terms of the agreement.
Rappi believes that his data on customers’ purchasing history could be used by companies like Sanofi to adjust sales and marketing strategies, according to commercial director Juan Sebastián Ruales.
“It’s not what people say it does, it’s what it puts in the basket,” he said. “If you say you’re a person who is in shape but then you get a lot of Rappi burgers, we know you’re not in shape.”
Ruales foresees the expansion of the alliance to offer subscriptions for prescription drugs, real-time interactions with medical providers and home visits by doctors. The initiative is part of the mission of the technology startup, valued at US $ 1,200 million, to offer a variety of products, from diapers to rental of electronic skateboards, for customers in the seven countries where it operates.
“We want to become the option for digital health care in Latin America,” he said. “We offer hamburgers, we offer nail polish, now we can offer doctors.”
The alliance is expected to start operations in April, Ruales said.
The new technology companies have offered similar services for years in other countries as part of a mobile applications industry for health valued at close to US $ 8,000 million last year, according to a study conducted by Zion Market Research. However, Rappi and Sanofi said they see opportunities in Latin America, which historically has produced fewer technology companies than other regions.