Practo, that provides an app and web service for scheduling appointments with doctors, has acquired hospital management software firm Insta Health Solutions for $12 million (Rs.79 crore).
Founded by Ramesh Emani, a former top Wipro executive, Insta provides healthcare applications to improve the efficiency of doctors and hospitals across 15 countries. Some of these customers include kidney care services provider DaVita, Skyline Hospital in Manila and Karen Hospital in Kenya.
“I am very pleased to welcome Ramesh (Emani) and the Insta team to Practo,” said Shashank ND, 27-year-old co-founder and Chief Executive of Practo. “This is the third of several acquisitions we’ve been evaluating as we continue our mission to help simplify and digitise healthcare around the world.”
Practo, which already lists over 10,000 hospitals on its platform, will now be able to directly tap business from hospitals. For instance, it would provide an option to hospitals using Insta’s product to integrate with Practo’s platform. This would enable patients to find information about doctor availability across the hospital and do booking instantly. Practo said the patients would not have to wait once they reach to the hospital for their appointment.
Insta will operate as a separate division and will continue to be led by its founder Ramesh Emani. At Wipro, Mr. Emani managed the company’s $1 billion (Rs.6,600 crore) telecom and engineering solutions business until December 2007. He co-founded Insta in 2008 and later raised funding from the U.S.-based Inventus Capital.
“Insta is thrilled to join Practo in our quest to enable digital healthcare worldwide,” said Mr. Emani. “We chose Practo over some other options as we felt we can together offer superior and comprehensive solutions.”
Insta is the third acquisition for Practo, which raised $30 million in February from venture capital firms. In April, it acquired Delhi-based fitness tech start-up FitHo and in July start-up Genii.
