Ru-Net, an international venture fund with Russian roots, has just participated in a $55 million Series D funding round for Practo, an Indian startup that helps consumers locate doctors and healthcare information.
As reported by TechCrunch, the investment was led by Tencent, the Chinese company which led Practo’s previous $90 million round last year. Also participating in the deal were RSI Fund (from Japan-based Recruit) and New York’s Thrive Capital as well as existing investors Altimeter Capital, Capital G (formerly Google Capital), Matrix, Sequoia and Sofina also put in.
The round takes Practo’s total sum raised from investors to around $180 million, notes the Californian tech blog.
Practo will use the funding to broaden its international footprint and expand in new markets in Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.
“We will further invest in the countries we are in,” Practo CEO Shashank N.D. told TechCrunch in an interview.
Ru-Net is a major venture fund backed by Leonid Boguslavsky, a figure on the Russian and international high-tech scene. As many other funds with Russian backers or management, Ru-Net has become more active outside Russian than within.
Over the last few years, the fund has shown particular interest in Indian markets. In 2012, Ru-Net invested $17 million in two Indian e-commerce companies. In 2014 Ru-Net invested in Indian mobile recharge platform FreeCharge; then in 2015 it took part in a funding round for Delhi-based grocery delivery startup PepperTap.
