How MedScore Is Tackling Pharma Credit Challenges in India

Delayed payments, lack of formal credit assessment, and financial uncertainty have long posed challenges for India’s pharmaceutical supply chain, particularly in smaller towns and rural areas. To address these structural inefficiencies, Mannuri Vamshi Krishna launched MedScore, an initiative focused on real-time credit risk assessment tailored to the needs of the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. In this conversation, Mannuri Vamshi Krishna, Founder & CEO of Medscore, outlines the experiences that led to the platform’s inception, the specific credit gaps it aims to address, and how data-driven tools like AI and analytics are being applied to improve transparency and reduce risk across the supply chain.

Your journey toward founding MedScore stemmed from personal adversity. Could you share how that experience shaped your vision for addressing financial inefficiencies in India’s healthcare ecosystem?

Witnessing the repeated breakdown of medicine availability despite ample inventory due to delayed payments and trust-based lending made it clear to me that the problem wasn’t supply but financial inefficiency. In semi-urban and rural areas especially, distributors extended credit without any formal assessment, relying purely on intuition. This led to defaults that cascaded through the supply chain, tightening working capital and disrupting access to essential medicines. Having worked across pharma retail, distribution, and logistics for over two decades, I realized the absence of a structured credit infrastructure was silently damaging the ecosystem. That personal insight led to the creation of MedScore, designed to bring real-time, data-driven discipline to the B2B pharma trade. We built a system that empowers distributors with predictive risk intelligence and gives retailers a chance to build digital credibility, ultimately making the entire ecosystem more transparent, inclusive, and financially stable.

With MedScore being the first of its kind in centralized credit risk management for the pharmaceutical sector, what gaps in the industry did you identify that others may have overlooked?

The pharmaceutical sector has long relied on informal, trust-based credit systems, especially at the distributor-retailer level, where formal financial records are often absent. I noticed that while medicines were available in warehouses, delayed payments and defaults made them financially inaccessible at the last mile. Traditional credit scoring systems were too generic and failed to capture the fast-moving, relationship-driven nature of pharma trade. No platform could convert real-time transaction data into actionable credit insights tailored to this ecosystem. This gap left distributors exposed to unpredictable risks and denied credible retailers the opportunity to build trust through data. MedScore was created to address this by offering a patent-filed, sector-specific scoring engine that reflects actual financial behavior, enabling smarter credit decisions. Today, we serve over 300 distributors, 3,000 retailers, and cover data from 2.1 lakh pharmacies across India while expanding to other high-risk B2B sectors through our SafeCredits platform.

How does MedScore leverage real-time analytics and proprietary scoring mechanisms to solve the persistent issues of payment delays and bad debt in medical supply chains?

MedScore addresses the persistent issues of payment delays and bad debt in the medical supply chain by turning real-time transactional data into predictive insights through its proprietary scoring engine. Our platform integrates directly with ERP systems to continuously capture payment timelines, billing frequency, and credit exposure, allowing us to assess financial behavior dynamically. This real-time analytics framework generates evolving credit scores that reflect the current risk profile of every retailer. Distributors can act quickly on early signs of delinquency through automated alerts, adjusting credit terms, or initiating collections proactively. This approach eliminates guesswork and replaces informal, trust-based lending with structured, data-driven decisions. Retailers who consistently pay on time benefit by building a verifiable credit identity that opens access to better trade terms and formal financing. The result is improved cash flow management, reduced defaults, and a more disciplined and transparent ecosystem for all stakeholders in the pharmaceutical supply chain.

Drone deliveries and AI-based analytics are emerging as critical enablers of last-mile access and operational precision. How is MedScore integrating these technologies to enhance reach and reliability?

At MedScore, we integrate AI-based analytics to bring precision into how credit decisions are made at every level of the supply chain. Our platform processes real-time transactional data to generate dynamic credit scores, enabling distributors to prioritize deliveries based on financial reliability. While we are not executing drone deliveries ourselves, the intelligence we provide empowers partners exploring such solutions to make safer, data-backed last-mile decisions. Retailers with consistent repayment behavior can be confidently serviced using advanced delivery models, reducing wastage and failed trips. As the healthcare ecosystem embraces more automation, our insights ensure that innovation is guided by trust, accountability, and real-time financial discipline.

What role do sustainable logistics and green supply chain strategies play in your broader mission to build a more equitable and efficient healthcare delivery model?

Pharma is a complex and resource-intensive industry where every inefficiency compounds into real-world consequences, from medicine shortages to increased carbon footprint. Through our digital credit infrastructure, we enable distributors to make precise, data-backed decisions that eliminate redundant trips, minimize overstocking, and reduce delayed collections. This leads to fewer vehicle runs, optimized route planning, and better load balancing, which directly lowers emissions and fuel use. Encouraging disciplined financial behavior across the supply chain supports smoother, more predictable operations, allowing logistics partners to plan sustainably rather than reactively. Expansion into tier-2 and tier-3 markets demands that we address even sharper logistical challenges with thoughtful and efficient systems. Our broader vision is to create an ecosystem where financial transparency and environmental responsibility go hand in hand, ensuring healthcare access remains efficient and equitable without compromising long-term sustainability.

From SafeCredits to the core MedScore platform, your vision seems to extend well beyond pharma. How do you plan to replicate MedScore’s financial risk framework across sectors like FMCG, retail, and manufacturing?

Each sector we step into brings its own operational rhythm, credit behaviors, and risk dynamics, which means replication isn't just about porting software but deeply understanding context. In FMCG, where margins are tighter and transactions faster, we recalibrate our scoring engine to include variables like inventory turnover, seasonal demand, and retailer payment cycles. For manufacturing, supplier-buyer dependencies and longer credit terms demand a different lens altogether. The strength of our model lies in its modular architecture, which allows us to retain the core analytics framework while fine-tuning sector-specific indicators. SafeCredits, our sector-agnostic extension, is already enabling early pilots in these verticals, offering the same transparency and predictability we brought to pharma. We are now focused on becoming the CIBIL plus UPI equivalent for B2B trade, and in the next 12 to 15 months, we plan to scale into over 10 states, onboard more than 1,000 distributors and 2 lakh retailers, and deepen ERP integrations to make credit scoring a seamless part of daily workflows.

As you look ahead to scaling operations and seeking your next round of funding, what kind of investors or strategic partners are best aligned with MedScore’s mission of combining financial stability with healthcare equity?

We are actively seeking investors and strategic partners who not only understand SaaS and fintech but also share our commitment to improving healthcare access through financial discipline. Our mission is rooted in bringing transparency and liquidity to underserved markets, and we believe long-term value lies in aligning with those who see the intersection of impact and scale. With operations already active in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, we are now preparing for nationwide expansion and deeper ERP integrations to make credit scoring a seamless part of daily business workflows. To drive this growth, we are raising $1 million at a post-money valuation of $11 to $13 million following our earlier ₹2.1 crore angel round. We welcome partners who bring not just capital but ecosystem expertise to help build a more equitable and financially resilient healthcare supply chain.