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practo
Company typePrivate
IndustryHealth, Wellness & Fitness
Founded2008; 16 years ago (2008)
FounderAbhinav Lal, Shashank ND
HeadquartersBangalore, Karnataka, India
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Shashank ND (CEO)
  • Abhinav Lal (CTO)
ServicesHealth, Wellness & Fitness
Number of employees
1,267
Websitepracto.com


Practo is an online health management service provider founded in India in 2008. In 2015, it became the world's largest appointment booking platform, handling over 40 million appointments a year.[1][2][3]

About

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Practo was founded in 2008 by ND Shashank and Abhinav Lal, both alumni of the National Institute of Technology, Surathkal.[4][5] It was originally a "management software provider for doctors". A few years later it developed a "consumer-facing doctor discovery" and "appointment booking platform".[2] It also provides medicine delivery and has entered the beauty and wellness segment.[6] In 2017 the valuation of Practo was $600-650 million.[2] As of 2015, the company had 2,500 employees in 35 cities across six countries.[7][8][9] Investors in the company include Tencent Holdings, Google Capital, Sequoia, Yuri Milner, Matrix Partners, Altimeter Capital, Belgium’s Sofina, Recruit Holdings and Thrive Capital.[4][2] Acquisitions include Insta Health, FitHo, Genii and Qikwell.[10]

Controversies

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In January 2019, Practo was accused of including homosexuality as a disease and listing doctors to cure this. After the online backlash, Practo apologized and promised that this will not be repeated again.[11] In May 2019, Practo was accused of using misusing records maintained by doctors and using the patient data for advertising medicine delivery. Practo however denied any wrongdoing and claimed that it complies with international standards for medical data privacy, which aren't even required in India.[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Abrar, Peerzada (24 September 2015). "Practo becomes world's largest appointment booking platform, acquires Qikwell". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d Chakraborty, Sayan (16 May 2017). "Can Practo take the next big leap forward?". Livemint. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  3. ^ Erin Griffith (10 February 2019). "These 50 Start-Ups May Be the Next 'Unicorns'". New York Times. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  4. ^ a b A B, Manu (14 September 2015). "Success story: Shashank started a healthcare start-up when he was just 20!". Rediff. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  5. ^ Shreyansh Sethia (18 June 2018). "Practo : Making medical records safer, easily accessible". The Indian Wire. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  6. ^ Chakraborty, Sayan (25 April 2016). "Practo expands services, offers medicine delivery, consultation". Livemint. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  7. ^ Shoba, V (5 November 2015). "Shashank ND, Founder & CEO, Practo". Open The Magazine. Retrieved 17 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ Sandeep Soni (31 May 2018). "How This Entrepreneur Ensured Healthcare Services Are Just a Click Away for All". Entrepreneur. Enterpreneur India. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  9. ^ Vishal Krishna (3 January 2016). "The Rise Of Practo Technologies". Buisness World. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  10. ^ Abrar, Peerzada (24 September 2015). "Practo becomes world's largest appointment booking platform, acquires Qikwell". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  11. ^ Kulkarni, Prachee (25 January 2019). "Homosexuality 'cures' on Practo spark LGBTQIA community's ire". Pune Mirror. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  12. ^ Sathe, Gopal (9 May 2019). "Is Your Medical Data Safe With Apps? Some Doctors Don't Think So". HuffPost India. Retrieved 27 June 2020.


Category:Online companies of India Category:Indian companies established in 2008 Category:Internet properties established in 2008 Category:IOS software Category:Android (operating system) software Category:Universal Windows Platform apps Category:2008 establishments in Karnataka Category:Health informatics Category:Telemedicine Category:Health care occupations Category:Physicians