The firm, which launched in November 2019, now plans to extend their crowdfunding campaign hosted on Crowdcube due to the high levels of demand.

Phlo Digital Pharmacy was founded by Nadeem Sarwar who has a Master’s Degree from Glasgow University and who is also a Saltire Fellow with Entrepreneurial Scotland. He was a Director of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and Managing Director of Universal Pharmacy for five years. He also spent several years working in Corporate and Commercial Banking for two of the UK’s largest banks.

Phlo is dual headquartered in Glasgow and London and is the UK’s first real-time same-day delivery pharmacy. The business employs 32 members of staff across the UK, with the vast majority being high-value technology and pharmacy roles. Employee numbers are expected to reach around 200 in 2021.

Although Glasgow-born, the business began life by servicing patients in and around London, where the company now has a strong foothold across the city, delivering prescriptions by bike courier.

After seeing considerable demand for its services, it has now begun providing deliveries throughout England. Most on-demand same-day deliveries by Phlo are completed within two hours.

Since launching, the management team has now proven the business model and concept, and the investment received through the crowdfunding will help support the scaling up of the on-demand, same-day delivery service. There will also be a further investment to implement and develop new features and technologies as well as a significant recruitment drive.

Phlo plans to launch its on-demand service outside of London in Birmingham later this year with plans to expand into five cities over the next two years.

From October 2019, demand and patient numbers have been growing consistently, but in the period since COVID-19 became a significant public health issue, growth has exceeded all expectations.

Since the start of the year, Phlo has seen a 73% growth in average MOM revenue, 43% growth in average MOM patient numbers and a 93% uplift in staff numbers. Phlo has serviced over 4000 patients to date from Jersey to Orkney.

Commenting on the crowdfund and expansion plans Nadeem Sarwar, founder and CEO of Phlo, said: “The response we’ve received to the crowdfunding has been incredible and I’d like to say a massive thank you to all those who are investing and in particular those who have supported us from the start.

“Last-generation online pharmacy services have been around for a while, but what we’re doing at Phlo is innovative, and given the current environment, we’d anticipate demand growing consistently.

“There will of course always be a place for bricks and mortar pharmacies, but whether you’re working from home or in an office, the convenience of on-demand delivery is becoming the norm, and what consumers expect. I’m also proud that we’re able to provide high-quality jobs in Glasgow and across the UK, and we are determined to play our part in the economic recovery.”