Bangalore: The healthcare sector saw the latest development when Sequoia Capital invested 25 crore in Practo, a web service startup.

Practo offers web service for scheduling appointments with doctors. The firm's flagship product Practo Ray, which can now also be accessed on mobiles, provides automated appointment scheduling, storage of healthcare records, including x-rays, files, prescriptions and billing. Its second product is Practo Virtual Receptionist - a dedicated healthline number to easily handle patient calls 24x7 and third one practo.com that was launched to simplify the doctor-search process for patients by providing specialty and location information.

Practo is based in Bangalore and was founded by Shashank ND and Abhinav Lal in 2008, when they were both 21-year-old and still studying at National Institute of Technology, Surathkal. Shashank thought of this idea, when his father needed knee surgery and it was getting difficult to find a healthcare provider. He also had to convert paper record to electronic records and send them to doctors in the US for advice.

Practo is planning to launch its products in the US and Europe in next two years. It will utilise this funding in doing so and also to expand its 80-member team to around 350. Sequoia got impressed by Practo due to the fast adoption of its service by thousands of doctors.

Chief executive of Practo Technologies, Shashank SD says,” You can discover a good food joint or order pizza online, but cannot schedule the appointment with a doctor. Our technology significantly improves patient experience and allows better functioning of clinics.”

Currently managing 10,000 appointments per day with 8,000 doctors at 5,000 centers across India, Practo serves three million patients. While the doctors have to pay Rs 700 per month for the service, it is free for the patients.

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