User:Kimran999/sandbox/Practo

Practo is an online health management service provider founded in India in 2008. In 2015, it became the world's largest appointment booking platform, handling over 40 million appointments a year.

About
Practo was founded in 2008 by ND Shashank and Abhinav Lal, both alumni of the National Institute of Technology, Surathkal. It was originally a "management software provider for doctors". A few years later it developed a "consumer-facing doctor discovery" and "appointment booking platform". It also provides medicine delivery and has entered the beauty and wellness segment. In 2017 the valuation of Practo was $600-650 million. As of 2015, the company had 2,500 employees in 35 cities across six countries. Investors in the company include Tencent Holdings, Google Capital, Sequoia, Yuri Milner, Matrix Partners, Altimeter Capital, Belgium’s Sofina, Recruit Holdings and Thrive Capital. Acquisitions include Insta Health, FitHo, Genii and Qikwell.

Controversies
In January 2019, Practo was accused of including homosexuality as a disease and listing doctors to cure this. After the online backlash, Practo apologized and promised that this will not be repeated again. In May 2019, Practo was accused of using misusing records maintained by doctors and using the patient data for advertising medicine delivery. Practo however denied any wrongdoing and claimed that it complies with international standards for medical data privacy, which aren't even required in India.