Healthcare startup Practo has laid off 150 employees after its annual appraisal process. A statement by the company said the development was part of the annual performance cycle during which some of their staffers inevitably leave, The Economic Times reported on Friday. The employees will be given two months’ salary along with the choice to stay on the firm’s rolls during the period or an outstation placement, the English daily reported.
“150 of our colleagues are leaving us. This is a combination of performance and natural redundancies that emerge as we evolve our businesses and integrate our five acquisitions. We continue to rapidly grow our consumer and enterprise businesses and will continue to hire talent across the board,” a company spokesperson said.
The startup had around 2,000 employees and had secured funding of Rs 375 crore in funding led by Chinese internet company Tencent in January. Officials told The Times of India that the company may be revamping its business model. “There are 153 million internet users in India, but the number of searches for doctors and hospitals in the top 50 cities in India in 2016 is estimated at 6 million, or about 4% of total internet users. People choose doctors based on references and moving them to online searches is tough,” the report said.
In addition to providing online data on doctors, the firm also provides software to medical institutions including clinics, diagnostic centres and hospitals, which accounts for a significant portion of its revenues. Its major hospital clients include Manipal Hospitals, Max Healthcare, Narayana Hrudayalaya and Sparsh.
Earlier this week, Practo had said it wanted to expand its services to insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and medical devices companies in a bid to increase income. On April 5, the company said the number of patients who visited its online platform had doubled in 2016 from 2015. It also reported an 81% increase in appointments booked and 60% growth in the number of enterprise customers, Mint reported.
In July 2016, e-commerce firm Flipkart had announced its decision to lay off under performers.
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