Capsule launches to reinvent the pharmacy, complete with med delivery

If you’ve ever grumbled about long lines at the pharmacy, Capsule wants to save you the trouble next time.

The New York-based startup is launching today to offer delivery of prescription meds directly to your doorstep or office in your time of need.

Here’s how it works:

When you visit the Dr. and they prescribe you meds, you can ask your Dr. to fill out the prescription for the Capsule pharmacy instead of the usual Duane Reade or Walgreens. Capsule is hooked into all physicians’ electronic medical systems, so this shouldn’t be any extra work on the part of the doctor.

From there, you log in to your Capsule account (on either web or iOS) and designate a time and place that you’d like to have your medication dropped off.

Capsule has built its own pharmacy from the ground up in Manhattan’s Flat Iron district, so there’s no extra third-party pharmacy doling out your meds.

But Capsule also understands the important of a pharmacy whether or not you’re being prescribed medication. You may just have a question about a red eye, or may wonder whether or not you can mix your allergy medicine with NyQuil.

For that, Capsule has 24-hour live chat services in the form of SMS, chat, or email. If the solution is one of the few over-the-counter products they sell, they’ll hook you up with a delivery. If they don’t carry what you need, you can get the answer from one of Capsule’s trained and certified pharmacists, and handle it yourself.

Capsule is led by Eric Kinariwala, who started the company after his own horrible experience at a pharmacy. He brought on long-time friend and pharmacist Sonia Patel to build out his team of Pharmacists, and Capsule was born.

There is no extra charge for using Capsule or having your medication delivered. Instead, Capsule uses a traditional pharmacy model. However, most pharmacies invest their profits back into their own store, selling you things like candy, cigarettes, and magazines.

Capsule invests its profits into services like live chat and delivery instead of turning their pharmacy into a retail location with all the works.

Thrive recently led a seed round for Capsule, though the company is declining to disclose the amount.

If you’re interested in learning more about Capsule, you can check out the website here.