MARCOL: Investing to build a leader in online pharmacies
2 November 2021
Atida began in Europe in 2006 as a small entrepreneurial physical pharmacy business looking to bring the multibillion pharmacy market online. However, it was primarily a transactional company – an alternative to high street pharmacies but lacking the strategy and capital to truly expand into a pan-European market leader. In 2016, MARCOL Health invested in the company and brought in a management team capable of implementing such a strategy.
Through acquisitions and with the addition of new brands over time, the company grew into new geographies and today, Atida is the largest online pharmacy in France, Spain and Portugal, 2nd in Italy and 3rd in Germany, with a combined ability to serve c.200m internet shoppers. “We are on a mission to help Europeans make better decisions about their health by providing a trusted and personalised health ecosystem that caters to both preventative and curative needs,” says Atida CEO Julie Szudarek. “Atida isn’t just a pharmacy, it’s an online health offering committed to ensuring that the journey towards improved health and wellbeing becomes a trusted and truly personal experience.”
Atida aims to do this by helping individuals take an active role in reaching their best self, by helping people to make better decisions about their own healthcare. Their ambition is to move wellbeing from a strictly curative and reactive approach, to one that is proactive and incorporates prevention. The company is creating personalised solutions that people can trust.
In line with this, Atida continues to build its range of private-label products, including lotions, first aid, vitamins and supplements. The initiative started in 2020 with just 50 own-brand products and that number has increased to over 200 today, looking to end 2021 with over 300 products that cover a significant proportion of consumer purchase categories. Atida Pure, is the company initiative providing personalised regimens of supplements, tailored to suit individual needs, by using information provided through a personalized survey.
MARCOL Health has been instrumental in helping to scale this innovative healthcare service into an international platform. “The pharmacy market worldwide is worth $400bn and is set to undergo a paradigm shift towards the online marketplace – as has already happened in other sectors such as travel, banking and insurance,” says Ed Radkiewicz, CEO of MARCOL Health. “With investment and strategic collaboration with the Atida management team, we have helped to refine the company’s customer-orientated approach, catalyse its growth and position it to be a leader in the space. Together, we have turned an interesting proposition into an international platform at scale.”
Atida continues to consolidate its brands and roll out its strategy to bring the in-store experience into customers’ homes. Supported by MARCOL Health and its management team, it has the opportunity to capitalise on the vast market opportunity and change the way we shop for our health and wellbeing.
For more information, please contact Ed Radkiewicz, CEO, MARCOL Health on e.radkiewicz@marcol.com