In 2008, Shashank ND, a 22-year-old engineering student from Bengaluru, faced endless clinic queues while his father recovered from knee surgery. Frustrated by fragmented medical records and inaccessible care, he teamed up with NITK Surathkal classmates Abhinav Lal and Siddhartha Nihalani to launch Practo from his grandparents’ home in JP Nagar. With ₹50 crore bootstrapped funds, they built Practo Ray—a SaaS tool for doctors to digitize appointments and records—in 14 days. “Healthcare needed a digital heartbeat,” Shashank told YourStory in 2023. From turbo-doc.in, Practo grew into a ₹5,000 crore ($600 million) healthtech titan, connecting 5 crore patients to 5 lakh doctors across 640 cities.
Born November 10, 1985, Shashank graduated from Bangalore Institute of Technology before NITK. Post-Infosys, he saw healthcare’s gaps. By 2010, Practo listed 1,000 doctors; by 2015, 100,000 with 30k monthly bookings. Early hurdles—low internet reach, doctor skepticism—were tackled with Practo Tab, a 2014 healthcare tablet hitting 25 users in a month. A 2013 Sequoia seed under $500k fueled growth, sparking team celebrations in Coorg.
The 2015 consumer app pivot added bookings, telemedicine, and records. COVID-19 tripled consultations to 10 million, with 7.5 million unique patients and 7 million appointments yearly. Practo now spans 200k providers in 20 countries and 100 clinics by 2025, blending virtual consults (78% recovery in three weeks) with medicine delivery and diagnostics. A May 2025 UAE launch targets 10% Dubai penetration, while Tier-2/3 revenues grew 50% vs. 20% in metros. AI diagnostics and PROMs (patient-reported outcomes)—India’s first—boost trust, with 80% physical consult recoveries.
Funding milestones: $228 million over nine rounds from Tencent ($90 million Series C, 2015), Peak XV, and Z47. A 2022 $1.68 million Series D set a $418 million valuation, climbing to ₹5,000 crore in 2025 with profitability. FY25 revenue rose 22% to ₹234 crore from ₹192 crore, with ₹15 crore operating EBITDA (109% turnaround from FY22’s ₹162 crore loss) and ₹3,500 crore GMV serving 5 crore patients. Gross margins CAGR 30%+; Q4 FY24 hit EBITDA break-even. International ops (20% revenue) aim to double in three years via UAE and US pilots.
| Fiscal Year | Revenue (₹ Cr) | EBITDA (₹ Cr) | Key Milestone |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY22 | ~150 | -162 | 100 clinics launch |
| FY23 | ~192 | N/A | Tier-2/3 revenue +50% |
| FY24 | 240 | Break-even Q4 | GMV ₹3,500 Cr |
| FY25 | 234 | +15 | First profitable year |
September 2025’s DRHP filing signals a mid-2026 IPO at ₹5,000-7,000 crore valuation, backed by Kotak and JPMorgan, targeting global scaling and R&D in India’s $5.5 billion telemedicine market (27% CAGR to 2025). Practo resolved CCI probes and ad controversies, ensuring compliance with global encryption standards across 720 cities.
Practo’s 10 million+ records, 200k providers, and 2,000 employees slash access barriers. Shashank’s coder-to-caregiver arc powers India’s $50 billion healthtech surge. “We’re healing from home,” he said in 2025. From queues to clicks, Practo’s ₹5,000 crore saga transforms lives, one consult at a time
Last Updated on Thursday, October 23, 2025 7:43 pm by The Entrepreneur Today Desk
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