Healthtech startup Practo, which primarily offers a platform for online appointment booking, e-pharmacy and e-diagnostics, is looking to expand its business with single-speciality care, starting with co-branded dental and dermatology clinics in certain cities.
The company currently operates 30 dental clinics with more than 40 doctors in Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai and plans to set up another 100-110 dental clinics this year, including in cities such as Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai. It eventually has plans to set up co-branded dermatology clinics too.
“The market is very fragmented in dental care and there is no one large dental brand. So consumers find it difficult to figure out which clinic to choose,” Rowel Coelho, business head, Practo Clinics told Fe in an interaction. He added that there is a need for standardised quality-control in dental care with emphasis on advance equipment and transparency in pricing.
The company sees large growth opportunity in India’s dental care segment, which is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12% and reach over $5 billion in the next three years, primarily driven by growing awareness of preventive care and higher prevalence of dental issues and oral cancer.
For its co-branded dental clinics, Practo enters into profit-sharing partnerships with existing dental care practitioners who run independent clinics and standardise their quality, infrastructure, treament and non-medical operations.
The company’s expansion strategy comes on the back of a decline in topline growth in FY23, where its revenue from operations fell 3.2% year-on-year to Rs 204.4 crore. However, it managed to cut its losses by 58% to Rs 99.4 crore in FY23 due to lower advertisement and consultation costs.
Practo’s B2C segment contributes nearly 80-85% of the overall revenue. While its healthcare platform – which offers online appointment booking, e-pharmacy etc – is the heart of the business, the company is looking for expansion in its full-stack vertical that includes telemedicine, secondary care surgeries and co-branded clinics.
