Chemist Direct is a UK-based company providing

medical products Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...

and services in addition to

beauty products Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protect ...

online. Founded in 2007, it received funding from technology investment firm

Atomico Atomico is a European Venture Capital firm headquartered in London, with offices in Paris, and Stockholm. Its founder and CEO is Niklas Zennström, a serial entrepreneur who co-founded Skype and Kazaa. History and investments It has invested ...

in 2013.

History

Chemist Direct initially started in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

in 2007 and was launched by entrepreneur Mitesh Soma and his wife Krishna Soma, a UK registered

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

. 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 Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

and began to expand the business and build a larger team.

Growth and current status

In 2009, Chemist Direct caught the attention of Atomico, the VC firm founded by

Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...

's Niklas Zennström which specialises in technology investments. Atomico made an investment of £3m, 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 Rakuten.co.uk is a website owned by Rakuten, that operates as an online marketplace. The website does not sell any products directly, but instead allows third party sellers to sell their products. The website replaced Play.com, which was origin ...

and before that the e-commerce director of

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

, as the chief executive of Chemist Direct. Chemist Direct is now one of Europe's largest online

chemists A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

, with over 50 staff members at its warehouse in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, as well as a professional team of pharmacists and product buyers. They have over one million customers and sell more than 20,000 products online. The company has also widened its product ranges to include nursery equipment, pet food, organic skincare, mother and baby products, sports supplements, grooming and healthcare products, electricals, and household cleaning products. In July 2016, it announced a merger with

Pharmacy2U Pharmacy2U is an online pharmacy located in the UK. Pharmacy2U has been involved in piloting the electronic transfer of prescriptions in the UK. They manage NHS repeat prescriptions on behalf of patients. Pharmacy2U was founded by pharmacist D ...

References

Online retailers of the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 2007 Internet properties established in 2007 Pharmacies of the United Kingdom Online pharmacies Companies based in Leicester {{commerce-website-stub