Practo+Qikwell is a yin-yang merger of healthcare startups

When two rivals merge, big things happen.

Take the Disney and Pixar merger, for example. After fighting for years over distribution rights and ownership of the box office – Disney with its classic hand-drawn animation and famous fairy tales, Pixar with its wit, snappy storylines, and intergenerational charm – the two animated studios put down their weapons and Disney bought Pixar with a deal worth US$7.4 billion. “Now, everyone can focus on what is most important: creating innovative stories, characters, and films that delight millions of people around the world,” explained the then CEO of Pixar, Steve Jobs. Today, Disney Pixar dominates all ten spots of the highest grossing animated film chart.

When Shashank ND, founder of India’s biggest healthcare startup Practo, announced the acquisition of its rival, Qikwell, he framed the situation in a similar way.

“When Practo started, there was one other big player,” Shashank explained at a press conference yesterday. “Player 2,” he said, gesturing at a set of blue question marks on screen, “had all the top hospitals signed up with them. They integrated with hospital management systems, had 6,000 top doctors on their platform, minimized waiting, and even had proprietary algorithms that could improve the experience at a hospital.” After a dramatic pause (at this point, all of us were on the edge of our seats with our pens in the air), he pressed his clicker to move on to the next slide. In bold, bright green letters appeared the logo: “Qikwell.”

“Practo [used by millions of patients] brings demand while Qikwell brings in the supply,” Shashank added. “Together, we’re trying to build the most comprehensive healthcare platform in the world.”

Two ends of the spectrum

Practo is a US$124 million funded healthcare portal that seems to be in a million places at once. The five-year-old startup does everything from connecting patients to doctors, helping clinics manage their customers, and creating customized fitness digital products.

It has worked with over 200,000 healthcare practitioners across 50 cities, seen strong traction with doctors, patients, and clinics, and expanded to four countries with plans to spread across Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe.

On the other end of the spectrum is Qikwell, India’s leading hospital appointment scheduler. Launched in 2011 by Krishna Prasad Chitrapura and Raghavendra Prasad TS, Qikwell has engaged over 250 hospitals across 19 cities, with a total funding of US$3 million.

One is the sweetheart of patients and clinics while the other is respected in the community of marquee hospitals and top specialist doctors. Together, they manage to cover most of the pain points that affect India’s healthcare ecosystem.

Last piece of the puzzle

If one observes Practo’s acquisitions and products, it is clear that it has been moving toward eventually serving the needs of everyone in the healthcare ecosystem. The last piece of the puzzle involves hospitals and other enterprises.

At the press conference, Shashank described its approach to enterprises in three tiers. A hypothetical customer, after deciding to get a treatment at a hospital, will usually,