Praava Health’s brick-and-click model: Bangladesh’s fastest-growing healthcare company raises $10.6 million

Praava Health, a healthcare company, on Monday announced the successful closing of its Series A Prime round to grow its brick-and-click healthcare model – that combines a digital health model with in-patient visits - bringing total funding raised to $10.6 million.

Investors supporting Praava's journey include SBK Tech Ventures; Ret. U.S. Army General David H. Petraeus, Chairman of the KKR Global Institute and Former Director of the CIA; Esther Dyson, Executive Founder of Wellville, Board Member of BAMF Health, Element3 Health, Yandex; Dr. Jeremy Lim, Advisor, Digital Health, ASTAR (Singapore's national science agency), Director of Global Health, National University of Singapore Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health; Dr. Rushika Fernandopoulle, Co-Founder & CEO, Iora Health; and Geoff Price, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Oak Street Health.

Bangladesh's healthcare system faces challenges. The average doctor's consultation lasts 48 seconds. The country is home to merely one internationally accredited lab, and many drugs in the market are counterfeit. As in many low- and middle-income countries, more patients are dying due to lack of access to quality healthcare than lack of access alone, according to a press release.

Praava's "brick-and-click" healthcare platform integrates digital health and in-clinic experiences convenient to where everyone lives, works, and clicks. The platform seamlessly combines technology with traditional health services — meaningful doctor-patient relationships (15-minute appointments) and quality diagnostics (lab and imaging) and medications — to improve patient experiences and outcomes. Praava's digital products include Bangladesh's first patient app (launched in 2018), as well as telemedicine, e-pharmacy, and virtual primary care.

2020 milestones: 150,000 patients served to date, growing more than 3x over the previous year. 75,000+ COVID-19 tests processed in-house to date. Remote and virtual healthcare services grew to 40% of all services. New digital products, including telemedicine, e-pharmacy, and virtual primary care. Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 73, equivalent to the highest NPS scores for Fortune 500 companies.

Praava's team is female-led — with a female founder and women comprising 3/5 of the c-suite. Collectively, the team boasts more than 150 years of experience in healthcare and digital health.

Serves on the front lines of Bangladesh's COVID-19 response and keeps its members healthy and more resilient in the face of the next health challenge.

"Access to healthcare is not enough — quality is what saves lives," says Sylvana Q. Sinha, Founder and CEO of Praava. "I moved to Bangladesh to start Praava after an alarming experience with my mother in a top private hospital in Dhaka. Other relatives with cancer were wrongly diagnosed. In fact, thousands of Bangladeshis travel abroad every single day seeking healthcare they can trust. These experiences made me wonder about the millions of people who don't have the privilege to seek treatment abroad. Bangladeshis deserve access to local world-class, affordable healthcare that treats them with dignity. For Praava patients, healthcare you can trust is finally available — anytime, anywhere."

Retired General David Petraeus, who also served as Director of the CIA and now is Chairman of the KKR Global Institute, said, "I have invested in every funding round since Praava's seed round, and I continue to be impressed by, and proud of, the company's leadership. Praava's unique model, that combines technology and in-person healthcare solutions, has already proven effective and scalable in helping to address the pandemic and numerous other medical challenges, and it clearly offers great promise for the future of health services in Bangladesh – and, over time, beyond Bangladesh, as well."