Rohit’s company, Zeelab Pharmacy, is reducing the cost of medicines by up to 90% – a life-changing amount for many people in a country with no public healthcare provision. Since 2019 he has taken Zeelab from an idea to a thriving business that aims to make medicines poverty a thing of the past.
Disrupting India’s pharmacy sector
After graduating from Southampton and completing a postgraduate management degree in London, Rohit returned to Delhi and began to get Zeelab Pharmacy off the ground. He had seen an opportunity to build a business that would bring value to society as well as financial returns.
In countries such as the UK, most medicines are available as generic versions, with the same formulation as their branded equivalents but sold at a much cheaper price. In India it was a different picture, with pharmacies only stocking the more expensive branded versions.
“In India people have to pay for their medical expenses out of their own pocket, and the cost can be significant. As much as 20% of the population is pushed into poverty because of the need to buy medicines.”
Even for those who are better off, the high cost of medicines eats into household budgets, leaving less for other essentials and narrowing life opportunities such as education and home ownership.
Rohit wanted to change this, and Zeelab was born: a pharmacy that sources and sells generic medicines at affordable prices. It now has more than 1,000 employees, 250 branches and one million active customers using its app.
Lessons in rigour and resilience
While at Southampton, Rohit developed skills and attitudes that would later help him navigate the pressures and responsibilities of entrepreneurship.
“Studying with a very diverse group of people developed my interpersonal skills. I believe this skill set is the most important if you want to build something, whether it’s a company or a non-profit, as a leader, as a manager, or as a team member.”
The rigour and discipline needed for a law degree were also good preparation for Rohit’s busy professional life, as well as giving him the confidence to take his ambitions forward.
“A month before an exam I would look at the thousands of pages I had to study and think, ‘It’s impossible.’ By the end of the degree, I understood that a task doesn’t always have to seem achievable – you can achieve it anyway.”
Being part of the student Unicef society connected me to young people who were committing their life to something much bigger than themselves. It helped me learn there can be things in life that bring you happiness which are outside of you as an individual, and I think that is also true for business.
Rohit Mukul, LLB Law, 2017, Founder of Zeelab Pharmacy
Future growth
Being a market disruptor is not without its challenges, and in the company’s early days even Rohit’s own staff needed convincing that it would take off. His people skills and belief in the project have proved invaluable in bringing people with him on the journey.
“We are changing a 200-year-old medical system. People are used to things happening in a certain way, so when you bring a new idea they are quick to dismiss it. It’s about resilience and not giving up on what you stand for.”
Having recently secured investment of $2.4m to help expedite the company’s expansion, Zeelab Pharmacy is set to go from strength to strength. Rohit is firmly dedicated to its future success. “My aim for the coming years is to do justice to this business – it’s going to be my life’s endeavour.”
