Practo plans IPO in 18 months

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₹400 crore in the current fiscal year. While prioritizing positive cash flow, Practo will be achieving the target by the end of the year, Lal said. “We are on track.

I think we should be able to get very close to that number and even achieve it. We are 90%-plus confident that we should hit that number, while the tele-consultation business, standalone is profitable." In FY22, the company had doubled its operating revenue to ₹188.9 crore. It stood at ₹194.53 crore in FY23.

Backed by China’s Tencent and venture capital funds Peak XV Partners and Matrix Partners, it is looking to diversify into healthcare delivery and other healthcare services. According to EY, telemedicine and online delivery of healthcare facilities are helping startups tap a larger market. India’s telemedicine market is expected to be at $5.5 billion by 2025.

Several telemedicine startups are raising capital to expand their customer base, and funding is expected to grow to $21.3 billion by 2025 with a 27% compound annual growth rate from $2.2 billion in FY23 across 131 deals, according to an Inc42 report. Bengaluru-based Practo was founded in 2008 by Shashank N.D. and Lal, to connect doctors and other health professionals with patients in rural India.

The startup, an early entrant in India’s tele-consulting landscape, had 30,000 doctors for online consultation at the peak of the covid pandemic. The business grew 25 times during the pandemic, with a smaller focus on profitability. “We were in a growth phase then, now the focus is on profitability," he said.

The company’s road to profitability was led by a combination of cost- cutting measures and innovations. Compared with the covid period, it has reduced its staff strength by 25%. “Back then, we were