Shailendra Singh can’t stop raving about Practo, a startup that was backed by Sequoia Capital for 46 months.
After Sequoia’s first investment of under $500,000 in March 2011, Practo took four years to rope in another VC firm, Singh, Bangalore-based managing director of Sequoia Capital, tweeted on Friday.
Singh says that the focus and dedication of the Practo team, headed by co-founder and CEO Shashank ND, were important factors in Sequoia’s commitment to the company.
ilities in building bespoke e-commerce portals and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms.
The tide had turned.
On Thursday, Practo announced that it secured $90 million in Series C funding from Chinese media and technology conglomerate Tencent Holdings Pvt Ltd, which has made its first investment in India. Marquee names such as Sofina, Google Capital, Altimeter Capital, Matrix Partners, Sequoia Capital Global Equities and Russian investor Yuri Milner also put money in this round, in addition to Sequoia. Shashank said the company neither hired an investment banker nor did it conduct a roadshow to get these top investors on board.
Practo is now seen as the country’s widest network for clinic-related CRM solutions and medicare listings.
Practo will use the latest round of funding to expand product lines, acquire more startups and enhance headcount.