| Chemist Direct | |
| Foundation: | 2007 |
| Location City: | Oldbury & London |
| Location Country: | United Kingdom |
| Industry: | Online pharmacy |
| Key People: | Mark Livingston: CEO |
| Revenue: | £ 15.7m (2014) [1] |
Chemist Direct is a UK-based company providing medical products and services in addition to beauty products online.
Founded in 2007, it received funding from technology investment firm Atomico in 2013.[2] [3]
Chemist Direct initially started in Westminster in 2007 and was launched by entrepreneur Mitesh Soma and his wife Krishna Soma,[4] a UK registered pharmacist. During its early days, the company started out with the primary goal of providing a wide range of products at discounted prices. At the beginning of 2008 Mitesh, his wife, and their team of four moved from Westminster to Leicester and began to expand the business and build a larger team.
In 2009, Chemist Direct caught the attention of Atomico, the VC firm founded by Skype's Niklas Zennström which specialises in technology investments. Atomico made an investment of £3m,[5] allowing Chemist Direct to strengthen their team and develop a wider product range.
In 2011, Mitesh Soma recruited Stuart Rowe, who previously had spent six years as the managing director of Play.com and before that the e-commerce director of HMV, as the chief executive of Chemist Direct.
In July 2016, it announced a merger with Pharmacy2U.[6]