Sequoia-backed Practo, a healthtech startup, is the latest new-age company that has fired employees to reduce costs. The Bengaluru-based company has let go of 41 employees, people in the know told FE. In response to FE’s queries, the company said employees were being asked to go based on their performance.
“Our revenue, margins, and profits are at an all-time high. Upholding a high bar for performance and productivity is crucial to maintaining this level of growth.
“Therefore, as part of our continuous performance management and planning process, we had to part ways with 41 employees in accordance with their employment contracts.
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As always, we are and will remain fully committed to providing the requisite support to all employees who may be impacted,” a spokesperson at Practo said.
Some employees affected by the decision took to LinkedIn to say that the job losses were part of a broader restructuring move at the company, indicating that the number of employees being sacked were higher.
Practo has, however, denied any talks of a restructure. “We are not undergoing any restructuring at Practo. We are focused on strengthening our businesses and remain committed to our mission of building healthcare for over a billion Indians. In the past year, we have hired over 500 talented individuals, and we plan to add another 500 Practeons to our team in the next 12 months, including backfill,” the spokesperson added.
Practo has about 1,600 employees, according to LinkedIn.Started around 15 years back, Practo aims to create an entire ecosystem where patients meet doctors and also have access to most facilities before and after.
Practo’s business can be divided into three broad categories: primary care, secondary care and software.
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The first category includes online consultations, in-person appointment booking, at-home diagnostic services and medicine delivery. Practo care surgeries fell under the secondary care division.
Practo has raised over $250 million and is valued at around $418 million according to Tracxn data. It counts Matrix Partners India, Tencent, DST Global, Sofina and several others as its backers.