Healthcare services platform provider Practo has acquired Insta Health, a provider of software technologies to hospitals, for $12 million.
The deal will help Practo get access to hospitals, clinics and diagnostic labs in India, West Asia, South-East Asia and Africa, to whom Insta Health offers its Hospital Information Management Solutions (HIMS). Post the deal, Insta’s 100-member team will become part of Practo.
Confirming the acquisition, Practo founder and CEO Shashank ND told BusinessLine that the deal is a mix of cash and equity, but did not give the details. Industry sources said the two companies have been in talks for a couple of months now.
Insta, which was founded in 2008, will continue to operate as a separate division led by its founder and CEO, Ramesh Emani.
Emani, a tech veteran, was earlier the CTO of Wipro.
Being privately held, Insta does not announce its revenues but company officials said it is a profitable entity.
Some of Insta’s customers include Cloudnine, Deepam Hospitals and MyDentist in India, DaVita in India and Malaysia, Skyline Hospital in Manila, NMC Group of Hospitals in the UAE and Karen Hospital in Kenya.
Practo recently raised $70 million from Tencent, tech investor Yuri Milner and others to grow its business in the domestic as well as overseas markets.
Global expansion “With us coming on, Insta can be leveraged 10,000 hospitals across 35 cities and in some of the other Asian countries too,” said Shashank, adding that it also gives Practo access to Insta’s clients and technology.
Interestingly, Practo has its HIMS software called Ray, which helps doctors schedule appointments, access medical records on the internet, etc. When asked whether there will be a clash of the two technologies, Shashank said Insta will work with Practo’s technology across their clients.
The start-up sees demand coming tier II and III cities, which are seeing a rapid rise in the number of diagnostic labs and hospital chains.
In November 2014, Narayana Health had acquired two Westbank Hospitals that specialise in cancer care, located in West Bengal and Guwahati.