Calcutta, May 31: Calcutta-based Sastasundar Healthbuddy Limited, which runs the digital healthcare network sastasundar.com, has raised $5 million from Japanese pharmaceutical company Rohto.

"The company will use the fund to expand across the country and the Japanese company will also hold a 13 per cent stake in Sastasundar. Besides, we also plan to raise another $100 million in the next three years," B.L. Mittal, founder and executive chairman of Sastasundar.com, told The Telegraph.

Rohto Pharmaceutical of Japan, which started operations in India in 2010, plans to expand its base in India with this investment.

"We are looking for expansion of our base in India with SastaSundar as our preferred partner. We have invested $5 million (Rs 32 crore) to acquire a 13 per cent stake in SastaSundar," Rohto executive VP and global head of international business Lekh Raj Juneja told reporters here.

India is a key emerging market for the company, Juneja said. Rohto is open to further investments in the Indian firm, Juneja said, without specifying any amount.

SastaSundar.com has been built upon the online to offline model of healthcare delivery. At present, Sastasundar operates in Bengal and has plans to expand pan-India.

The company, which runs on the franchise model, has plans of completing its expansion in Delhi by the end of this year as part of which it will be establishing Sasta Sundar Heathbuddy micro-pharmacies in Delhi.

"We are on a growth path and looking for a pan-India expansion. We plan to scale up our operations in Mumbai soon. Our association with Rohto will help us in achieving our immediate goal," Mittal said.

Founded in 2013, SastaSundar.com is a digital network for managing a healthcare, pharmaceutical, and wellness product supply chain. It acts as a channel for connecting doctors, diagnostic services, healthcare clinics, and health information services. The focus is on using knowledge and digital connectivity to reduce cost and make high quality medicines easily available.

Any regular licensed pharmacy can convert to a Healthbuddy store through its franchise model. Sastasundar has a unit and a laboratory at Baruipur. The company sells its products online and also through 168 Healthbuddy stores across the state. The company is aiming to have 250 Heathbuddy stores in Bengal and 50 stores in Delhi by March 2018.

The company claims to have 1.5 lakh regular customers buying medicines.

Founded in 1899, Rohto is a Japanese firm which offers various over-the-counter drugs and other healthcare products.