Practo In Talks To Raise $50-60 Mn In Fresh Round Of Funding

Bangalore-based healthcare startup Practo is in talks to raise over $50-60 Mn in a new round of funding, which could value it at over $600 Mn (INR 4,000 Cr), according to a report by ET. Although, Practo refused to comment on the news and called it a speculation.

New York-based investment firm Thrive Capital, Russia’s ru-Net Holdings and Chinese online giant Tencent are in advanced negotiations with the healthcare startup.

Shashank ND and Abhinav Lal, NIT Surathkal graduates, founded Practo in 2008 with an aim to revolutionise the healthcare scenario in the Indian sub-continent. The app allows users to search for general physicians or specialists based on factors such as experience of the doctor, location, time slot, etc.

Thrive’s most well-known investments include photo-sharing app Instagram, live-streaming platform Twitch and collaboration tool Slack.

ru-Net has been active in India for over five years, backing companies including FreeCharge and PepperTap.

Last year, Practo secured $90 Mn Series C funding led by Tencent, with participation from Sofina, Sequoia Capital, Google Capital, Altimeter Capital, Matrix Partners, Sequoia Capital Global Equities and Yuri Milner. Last year it acquired four healthcare startups – Instahealth, Qikwell Technologies, Genii Technologies and Fitho.