U N D E R T H E M I C R O S C O P E

FOUNDER AND CEO OF PHLO

As the founder and CEO of Phlo , what are the key milestones in your career journey that have led to the success of the company , and how do you plan to continue this growth trajectory ?

I ’ ve always had an entrepreneurial streak ; running businesses is in my family . However , after studying Economics and Politics at Glasgow University , I began my career in commercial banking , where I worked on some pharmacy sector deals and was introduced to that sector . But after several years with HSBC in England , I returned to Scotland with a keen desire for new experiences , and to learn more about the world of business .

In 2014 , I was offered a place on the prestigious Entrepreneurial Scotland Saltire Fellowship programme , which took me to Babson College in Boston , US , to work towards a fast-track MBA . I became fascinated with some of the digital health and pharmacy companies I was seeing out in the States . Not only were they solving real problems for huge numbers of people , but their businesses were customer-centric , digital-first and brilliantly engineered . These were the pharmacies of the future .

Meanwhile , back in the UK , the pharmacy sector was lagging far behind the rest of the UK ’ s health sector with regards to innovation and tech adoption . Long waits and bureaucracy were placing a strain on the whole system and impacting outcomes for patients and providers . This was the problem I set out to solve with Phlo , which was launched in 2020 , and over the following years my team and I built the company into the UK ’ s leading provider of direct-to-door medication delivery and B2B digital pharmacy services .

In 2023 we raised our £ 10 million Series A round , and in April 2024 we raised a £ 8.5 million growth investment round to unlock the expansion of the business into new areas and product verticals . We ’ re in the process of evolving Phlo from a digital pharmacy business into a holistic healthcare service , which is an incredibly exciting transition – and growth opportunity – for the business .

Could you share some insights into the challenges you ' ve faced in building Phlo and how you ' ve overcome them to reach this significant investment milestone ?

In the early days of the business , our main challenge was to get prospective customers to leave behind the analogue systems they were used to and to realise the benefits of going digital . When we first launched the Phlo Digital Pharmacy , we were one of the first businesses to offer patients a fully online prescription fulfilment service . This meant we had to win over our users to the advantages of online payment , doorstep delivery , and of being actively in control of their medication management . When it came to our healthcare partners , the hurdle was to convince them that the time to change their decades-old processes was now , and that we were a safe and trusted partner for that journey . However , once we could showcase the successes of our first group of partners , we found it much easier to attract others !

Both fundraising rounds demanded a huge amount of my effort and time , which took me away from the day-to-day running of the business . But I ’ ve been fortunate to tap into a hugely supportive network of investors in Scotland , who have supported Phlo in a fantastic way over the years .

Almost as soon as we ’ d completed the 2023 raise , we finalised our acquisition of the UK arm of Truepill , the USbased digital pharmacy unicorn . This was a huge moment for the business , but it came with all the usual challenges of an acquisition – complex legal and regulatory processes , new team members , new brands and new customers who we needed to onboard and integrate quickly .

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