Latest news with #Practo
Arabian Business
4 days ago
- Business
- Arabian Business
India-based digital healthcare platform Practo launches instant online access services in UAE
Practo, an India-based digital healthcare platform, announced going live in the UAE, enabling users in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah to book appointments with verified doctors and access thousands of patient reviews. Some of the early clinics and hospitals partnering with include e-Kaya Skin Clinic, Sulaiman Habib Hospital and Clinics, Micris Dental, Smile on Dental Clinic and Quintinha hospitals, the platform said. Shashank ND, Co-founder & CEO, Practo, said in today's world, and particularly in a market such as the UAE, access to quality healthcare should not be defined by proximity alone. 'Our experience has shown that patient reviews are a trusted indicator for users to make a decision, and we are now happy to extend this opportunity to users in the UAE,' he said. Shashank said the initial response to the online access services has been overwhelmingly positive. Practo said it already has more than 31,000 doctors, 3,000 healthcare facilities, and over 50,000 monthly users already accessing the platform in the UAE. As an insurance-led healthcare market, Dubai places strong emphasis on coverage when it comes to accessing care. Practo said it already has insurance data at the establishment level and will make this available at the doctor level by the end of the month, enabling more informed patient decisions. The launch builds on Practo's over 10-year presence in the UAE through Insta by Practo, its hospital management software that powers operations at leading healthcare institutions across the region.
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Business Standard
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
CII Summit 2025: Startup founders urge for domestic capital, tech push
The founders of several homegrown start-ups across sectors called for a stronger push from domestic investors and a greater focus on technological innovation to help the ecosystem grow and compete globally. Speaking at the CII Annual Business Summit 2025 on Thursday, the founders also highlighted the country's deep pool of skilled talent as a key driver of future growth. Vrinda Kapoor, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of 3rdiTech (pronounced third-eye tech), a semiconductor company, pointed out that by 2030, China will hold 65 per cent of global semiconductor and electronics capacity for defence. 'That's the beast we are up against, but India is the only country with enough skilled manpower to be able to compete with China. For this, Indian product companies need to emerge, and Indian capital needs to back them,' Kapoor said, adding that 20 per cent of the world's semiconductor design talent is based in three Indian cities—Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune. On competition with China, Rajat Verma, Founder and CEO of Lohum, a battery recycling and critical minerals refining company, said that while India has sufficient talent, more private capital is needed. 'The Chinese ecosystem is way too deep, way too big. We need the entire downstream ecosystem to be created in India. We have a big market that can be served by Indian companies; this big market allows us to get to scale and then serve the global ecosystem. But one of the problems in the Indian deep tech market is capital, as the private capital market is not deep enough,' Verma said. Speaking about taking Indian start-ups onto the global stage, Shashank ND, Co-founder and CEO of health-tech firm Practo, said, 'We have become a hub for consumers choosing India as a destination for healthcare, but I think the technology access that could be possible isn't right there.' He added that technological innovation and access could help extend the services of well-trained Indian doctors to people worldwide. Paavan Nanda, Co-founder and CEO of gaming company WinZo Games, added that in the context of gaming and entertainment, India's rich culture and technological capability could be integrated to create export-ready global products. 'The Indian art and culture, when married with the strength of Indian tech, can come up with an extremely impactful product and companies that can compete with the Activision Blizzards, Googles, and Metas of the world,' Nanda said.
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Business Standard
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Healthcare site Practo aims to double international revenue in 3 years: CEO
Practo, an Indian healthcare services platform connecting doctors and patients, wants to double its revenue from international business in the next three years as it expands into developed markets, a top executive told Reuters. Founded in 2008, the Bengaluru-based firm gets about 20% of its revenue from international markets, where its bigger presence is through its software management service for hospitals in South East Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The company aims to double this revenue stream in the next two to three years but mostly via the consumer-facing platform, which currently is present only in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, outside of India. This expansion will aid double-digit overall revenue growth, CEO Shashank ND told Reuters last week. Practo's revenue jumped 22% to 2.4 billion rupees ($28 million) in fiscal 2024. "...If you look at Canada and Australia or any of the western markets ... there isn't ... technology that has led to better health outcomes from a doctor-marketplace standpoint. And that's where we see a very wide open field," said Shashank, who goes by his first name. Practo is also working on going public in India, he added, without specifying a timeline. The company, which achieved profitability in the March 2024 quarter, was valued at $418 million as of April 2022, according to data from market intelligence platform Tracxn. The COVID-19 pandemic gave the platform a boost due to a shift in people's mindset that prompted them to consult doctors regularly, Shashank said. "Before COVID, it was more challenging. It took us a lot more time to convince providers to see the benefits of digital. But after COVID, I must say that it's a reverse effect. We have a lot more pull from the supply side." ($1 = 85.3700 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Rishika Sadam; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
Mint
6 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Global expansion can't come at the expense of India biz : Practo's Shashank N.D.
Bengaluru: As it enters the United Arab Emirates (UAE), digital health platform Practo has revised its playbook for international expansion by correcting some key mistakes it made earlier, its co-founder and chief executive Shashank N.D. said. Also Read | Practo expands into critical care with new assured network 'Today, we are in two countries—India and the UAE. In the past, we had forayed into many countries. But after a year we moved back. At the time, Practo was very big and had raised a lot of capital. We had spread ourselves too thin. We were not just running international businesses but also focusing on e-pharmacy and diagnostics in India," Shashank said in an interview. While overseas markets are a good way to expand revenues, Practo realised that the growing opportunities in India's healthcare landscape could not be missed. 'The whole healthcare sector in India was booming. So, we really needed to focus and make sure that while we are expanding globally, our market share and our focus in India doesn't get diluted," he added. Also Read | Healthcare startup Practo fires 41 employees Moreover, limited resources prompted Practo to reorient its strategy and double down on its India business. 'We refocused some of those investments on the Indian use cases. We also did a lot of investing into technology and solving for medicine delivery and diagnostics. The Indian markets were deepening at the time and it was crucial for us to focus on our core market to gain market share and be profitable," Shashank noted. On Wednesday, the Bengaluru-based health-tech firm announced its entry into the UAE by setting up its consumer-facing teleconsultation and healthcare navigation services at Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. Patients in these regions can now access Practo's online services, including doctor discovery and appointment booking. As an insurance-led healthcare market, Dubai places emphasis on coverage when it comes to accessing care. Shashank already has insurance data at the establishment level and will make this available at the doctor level by the end of the month. Some of the early clinics and hospitals partnering with Practo include e-Kaya Skin Clinic, Sulaiman Habib Hospital and Clinics, Micris Dental, Smile on Dental Clinic and Quintinha hospitals. The firm has now invested 'a couple of million dollars" in overseas expansions and will bulk up the investment as efforts bear fruit, Shashank said. 'India's digital health market is becoming highly competitive. To drive growth, Practo is now focusing on international markets with a strong Indian diaspora starting with the UAE, where Indians make up nearly 38% of the population. These users are already familiar with Indian healthcare platforms, offering a low-friction entry point and faster adoption," said Ayush Singh, practice member (healthcare and lifesciences) at Praxis Global Alliance. He believes that online healthcare should be looked at as a service complementary to physical healthcare. 'While not all care can be delivered online, services like teleconsultations, e-prescriptions, diagnostics booking, and follow-up care are increasingly going digital. With the right partnerships and regulatory regimes, digital-first models can complement local healthcare systems." Founded in 2008 by Shashank and Abhinav Lal, Practo started off as a doctor appointment booking platform. Over the years, it added surgery care and software services for hospitals to its portfolio. Backed by China's Tencent Holdings, Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India and SEA), and Z47 (formerly Matrix Partners), Practo has raised nearly $200 million till date. In 2017, it started operations in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brazil, hoping to capture market share in regions beyond India. To be sure, Practo's business-to-business software services are available in 22 countries today, but its consumer-facing vertical is present in India and now the UAE. The idea of making another expansion attempt is fuelled by the convenience of adoption in the post-pandemic world. 'After Covid, it looks like things have gotten a lot easier in terms of regulation and cheaper in terms of cost than 5-6 years back. It's much more cost effective to do it today." 'With AI [artificial intelligence] coming through, the ability for us to expand our core business has become easier. So this has also led us to go back into the international markets," Shashank said. Practo, which aims to reach another region beyond India and the UAE by the end of the year, will focus on countries having a strong Indian diaspora. 'It's not a required condition, but we usually want to take those off earlier because those provide us a lot of credibility and so it's much faster for us to expand in those markets. And what we are also seeing now that our playbook is getting settled in, it's getting faster and faster for us to execute," Practo's chief executive added. The firm also has plans for a public-market listing in the next few years and is currently focused on maintaining profitability. It claims to have hit profitability in FY24 and sustained the performance along with positive cash flows in FY25. Speaking of slowdown in demand for teleconsultation, Shashank believes that while the demand may have tapered after the pandemic, it is certainly outperforming pre-pandemic levels. 'I will not say it'll be 100% ever, but can 20-30% of healthcare be delivered online? I completely think that can happen. And it's moving in that direction. Certainly slow, but certainly in that direction."
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Business Standard
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Practo expands to UAE, targets markets with large Indian diaspora
Bengaluru-based integrated healthcare platform Practo has launched its services in the UAE (United Arab Emirates), beginning with Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah. The company stated in a media briefing that it is targeting markets with a large Indian diaspora as part of its next phase of expansion. 'Practo's expansion strategy reflects our commitment to making Indian healthcare innovations accessible globally. Following our achievement of profitability in FY24 and sustained performance with positive cash flows in FY25, we are excited to extend Practo's reach in the UAE. This is just the beginning as we scale our efforts to improve healthcare outcomes worldwide,' said Shashank ND, co-founder and chief executive officer, Practo. Shashank noted that Practo has maintained a B2B presence in the UAE for over a decade, providing hospital management software to leading healthcare institutions such as Life Medical Center, Emirates Hospital, and Healthcare Organisation UAE. Combined, Saudi Arabia and the UAE contribute 10–15 per cent of Practo's annual revenue through its B2B operations. On the B2C front, the company is witnessing annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth of $200,000 from these markets. The platform currently supports over 31,000 doctors, 3,000 healthcare facilities, and records 50,000 monthly active users in the UAE. Some of the clinics and hospitals partnered with Practo in the country include e-Kaya Skin Clinic, Sulaiman Habib Hospital and Clinics, Micris Dental, Smile On Dental Clinic, and Quintinha Hospitals. With its recent launch, the health-tech firm further expands its reach by offering a one-stop solution that goes beyond individual hospital networks. Users gain 24x7 access to verified doctors across top specialties such as dentistry, dermatology, gynaecology, general practice, ENT, physiotherapy, and psychiatry, with instant appointment booking. The company believes that with many users frequently travelling between India and the Gulf for medical or personal reasons, Practo's cross-border presence enables seamless continuity of care. The platform connects UAE-based users with top Indian providers and vice versa, supporting patients across both regions. Users can search by specialty, symptoms, surgeries, or treatment options.
