New Delhi, Sept. 17 -- Digital health platform Practo has rejigged its leadership team, expanding the role of its founder while promoting senior executives within the company, amid reports that it is gearing up for an initial public offering (IPO).
Practo said on Thursday that it had promoted founder and CEO Shashank ND Singh to the "expanded" role of managing director and executive chairman, while appointing Jagnoor Singh, previously chief operating officer, as CEO, effective September 1.
"We are now entering a phase that requires us to strengthen execution across our businesses while investing deeply in the ideas that will shape healthcare over the next decade," said Shashank ND Singh.
"Jagnoor (Singh) has brought strong operating rigour and ambition to Practo, and has been instrumental in advancing our growth strategy. I look forward to working even more closely supported by him as we scale our impact, accelerate innovation and build Practo's next phase of growth," he added.
In addition to the top-level shift, Practo co-founder Siddhartha Nihalani has taken on the "additional responsibility" of chief operating officer - B2C, overseeing the company's consumer businesses. Former head of monetization Rowel Coelho has been named COO, B2B, and will be responsible for Practo's enterprise and corporate businesses.
"Together, Siddhartha (Nihalani) and Rowel (Coelho) bring nearly three decades of experience at Practo and have contributed to the company's evolution across multiple stages of its journey," the company said in a statement.
The company also appointed co-founder Abhinav Lal as chief scientist. He will lead Practo's exploration of frontier AI applications in healthcare, forge research partnerships and build an innovation hub focussed on developing future-ready technologies.
The appointments come as the company expands its consumer platform into the UAE and the US. With a network of over 700,000 doctors and healthcare providers, the leadership team will support Practo's priorities: scaling internationally, deepening its presence across the healthcare ecosystem and embedding AI-led capabilities across its existing products and new solutions, the company said.
According to reports in February, Practo was in advanced talks to raise $100-125 million in a pre-IPO round, with a global private equity firm expected to lead the funding. The startup was reportedly looking to make its public markets debut next year.
The company started operations nearly 18 years ago. Currently, it operates in over 2,400 cities globally. It helps patients book virtual and in-person appointments with doctors and specialists.
It also offers ancillary services such as telemedicine, pathology, and medicines. The company is backed by investors such as China's Tencent and venture capital firms Peak XV Partners and Z47 (erstwhile Matrix Partners).
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.