Interviewed by Md. Shah Jalal, MBR Team

Arogga, which started out in Bangladesh in 2020, has made a digital pharmacy and healthcare app for the future. It uses technology that lets patients easily manage, order, and track the delivery of affordable medicine and healthcare products. E-Pharmacy, doctor consultation, and lab testing are some of the key features of Arogga.

MBR: Arogga is the largest online pharmacy in Bangladesh. Could you kindly tell us how you came up with this idea and what was the most motivating factor for you?

Rosina Mazumder: If you look at the startup ecosystem within the MENA region, especially in underdeveloped or developing countries, there are multiple startups solving fundamental problems and bridging gaps in different sectors, all with the use of technology. Bangladesh, like our neighbours, also started to adopt—and we saw a flurry of startups come up in logistics, transport, finance, and now education. We, as a co-founding team, felt healthcare was still a missing block in all this for Bangladesh. We still don’t have a startup solving the basic problems such as fake medication and access to basic healthcare for the masses. Arogga’s vision is to be this platform, and we’re starting with medicine delivery, providing genuine medicine, affordably and reliably, all over the country.

MBR: Arogga is operating with the aim of empowering patients to maintain their health. In your opinion, to what extent have you been able to achieve this target?

Rosina Mazumder: Our current focus is medicine delivery. In little over a year of operations, Arogga has delivered over 8 million medicines to all districts in Bangladesh. We’ve grown GMV 25x and have recently completed our 100,000th order. As we grow, we’ll expand our services to encompass all verticals, enabling us to be a complete healthcare platform.

MBR: How difficult was it to familiarize your business with your target clients as a healthtech firm, which is a relatively new concept in Bangladesh?

Rosina Mazumder: There’s no alternative solution to this problem, so naturally, when customers Rosina Mazumder Co-Founder & CEO Arogga Interviewed by Md. Shah Jalal, MBR Team Arogga, which started out in Bangladesh in 2020, has made a digital pharmacy and healthcare app for the future. It uses technology that lets patients easily manage, order, and track the delivery of affordable medicine and healthcare products. E-Pharmacy, doctor consultation, and lab testing are some of the key features of Arogga. 9 of 36 first hear about our service to provide genuine medicine affordably, and directly to customers’ homes, they’re intrigued. After using our service once, we gain customer trust and, very quickly, traction through word of mouth.

Healthtech may be a new concept, but to our target consumer, we’re a brand that can deliver genuine medicine directly to your door at an affordable price. Our goal is to provide a convenient, simple solution to a daily problem for most people in the country.

MBR: You’re the first Bangladeshi startup to obtain seed funding from the Silicon Valley Hyper Program. What attributes of your company do you believe had a role in obtaining the funding?

Rosina Mazumder: This was a very proud moment for us, and we’re pleased to be the first Bangladeshi startup to be funded by Hyper. A key attribute Hyper liked was the co-founding team—our experience, track record, and traction, along with our passion and grit for solving a genuine problem in the health space in Bangladesh.

MBR: The technological development in Bangladesh has already reached several milestones and is expected to unlock more achievements in the upcoming years. As a technology-based firm, which opportunities do you expect to have in the future?

Rosina Mazumder: Our technology to date has impacted the health of thousands of Bangladeshis. It means consumers can take control of their medication and healthcare and ensure they’re consuming genuine medicine. Our near-term goals are to offer doctor consultations and lab testing. However, in the future, we expect advancements in technology to allow basic in-app diagnostics and health monitoring using biometrics.