Counterfeit is a huge problem for many industries globally. According to several sources, there is a huge and growing counterfeit medicine market out there in Bangladesh, as big as BDT 600 crore annually. The problem is equally severe in many other industries. For instance, there is a big clone mobile handset market.
We recently covered Panacea, a Dhaka-based startup, that has developed a mobile and web-based solution that enables companies to prevent counterfeit by applying a verification system that places a unique one-time verifiable code with products.
Why it matters. A huge global market, according to a report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development published last year, the trade in phony products is a fast growing problem and now worth as much as $461 billion.
How it works. Panacea currently works with Renata Pharmaceuticals. It imprints a unique verification code onto each medicine strip that users can use to verify the medicine either by sending SMS or FB message.
Growth. Panacea started in 2015 and now serves one client. It employs 05 people with a few volunteers.
Slow sales growth. The company has been facing challenges with closing sales deals. It has recently hired a senior person from GP to help it ramping up the sales.
Investment. Panacea has not raised investment yet but plans to once it onboard more clients.
Ambition. The startup is currently working in only Pharmaceuticals industry but over the time plans to cover other industries. It plans to make the verification system a standard for all the industries that has a counterfeit problem.
