Practo Lays Off 150 Employees As Part Of Yearly Review, Launches New Brand Identity

Bengaluru-based online healthcare platform Practo has reportedly sacked over 150 employees.

Currently, the company has about 1,500 employees. The layoffs were done as a part of the annual performance cycle.

A company spokesperson said, “Yesterday, 150 of our colleagues left the company to pursue opportunities outside. This is a combination of natural redundancies that emerge as we integrate our 5 acquisitions and evolve our businesses, as well as the performance required for the next phase of Practo’s growth.”

The spokesperson further added that the employees will be provided with 2 months pay, employment, and outplacement services to help them.

With this Practo has also unveiled its new brand identity and positioning – Your Home for Health.

Shashank ND, founder & CEO, Practo said “We are excited to reveal our new global brand identity that better reflects our role in the ecosystem. Practo is the platform that connects any two stakeholders in healthcare – be it patients, providers, insurers, medical devices and more. Our positioning, “Your Home for Health” reflects what we stand for – the trusted and familiar place where consumers can find solutions for their healthcare challenges.”

Founded in 2008 by Shashank ND and Abhinav Lal, Practo is a healthcare platform that connects patients with healthcare providers around the world. It is currently present in 15 countries and over 50 cities around the world.

As per a company statement, Practo’s various offerings have made significant progress in 2016. It claims to have witnessed a 116% growth in patients visiting Practo, 81% more appointments booked, and 150% growth in online consultations on its platform.

Practo is now focussed on opening the platform to more healthcare stakeholders including insurers, pharmaceutical companies, medical devices companies and others. The idea is to build new services on top of Practo’s platform and deliver a superior healthcare experience for both consumers and providers.

As per an IBEF report the overall Indian healthcare market is worth around $100 Bn. It is expected to grow to $280 Bn by 2020 at a CAGR of 22.9%. The report states that the Healthcare Information Technology (IT) market currently valued at $1 Bn is expected to grow 1.5 times by 2020.

In January 2017, Practo raised $55 Mn Series D funding in a round led by Tencent. With that round three new investors joined Practo – ru-Net, RSI Fund (owned by Recruit Holdings), and Thrive Capital. Other existing investors Sequoia Capital, Matrix Partners, Capital G (formerly Google Capital), Altimeter Capital, and Sofina also participated in that round. Other startups in this segment include Lybrate, Ziffi, Zoctr, etc.