Practo raises $55 million in series D funding led by Tencent
The Bengaluru-based company will use the funds for its geographic expansion and to further integrate its health care platform
Bengaluru-based Practo, founded in 2008 to bring order to India’s fragmented health care system, on Tuesday announced an injection of $55 million in series D funding led by Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings. Three new investors – Russia’s ru-Net, Japan’s Recruit Holdings-owned RSI Fund and New York-based Thrive Capital –participated in the round, as did existing investors Sequoia Capital, Matrix Partners, Capital G (formerly Google Capital), Altimeter Capital and Sofina. With this boost of capital, Practo plans to continue its geographic expansion, as well as further integrate its health care platform.
“2017 will be the year our integrated health care platform comes to life and we will partner with various service providers to build solutions with Practo,” said Shashank ND, founder and CEO of Practo, in a statement. In addition to connecting users with health care providers, enabling them to book appointments, consult with doctors in-person and online, as well as manage their medical records, Practo offers an enterprise solution too. Its software enables health care professionals, clinics and hospitals digitise their processes such as appointment scheduling, patient records and billing information.
From a modest beginning, Practo claims to manage 45 million appointments annually through its platform today. Its doctor discovery service is currently available across India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Brazil, while its software service is available in 15 countries. With the additional funds, the company plans to deepen its penetration in its existing markets, and is also looking to enter the health insurance segment.
“Practo has made impressive progress, expanding its platform to cover more and more health care needs of consumers and providers. A full stack model in health care is very difficult to pull off, but Practo has built and rapidly scaled a full-stack solution that is rare to see globally,” said Tencent’s Hongwei Chen, executive director of Investment and M&A. The Chinese company also led Practo’s $90 million series C round of funding in August 2015, while Sequoia led the series A and series B rounds of $4 million and $30 million respectively, taking the total sum raised by Practo thus far to $179 million.
Organic growth aside, Practo has grown inorganically too, snapping up several companies in the recent past. In December last year, the company announced the acquisition of Enlightiks, a platform offering business analytics to health care providers, with the aim of strengthening its enterprise offering. In 2015, it bought appointment booking platform Qikwell, as well as Insta Health Solutions, a service provider for hospital information management.
