Practo Cofounder Launches AI Health Startup ‘Cent’ With $5 Mn to Detect Disease Early

Practo cofounder and CEO Shashank ND has officially launched Cent, a direct-to-consumer preventive healthcare intelligence startup built to detect life-threatening diseases before a single symptom surfaces. The venture has raised approximately $5 Mn (₹45.8 Cr) in seed funding — and it’s already generating revenue, quietly, before most people knew it existed.

What Is Cent? India’s New Preventive Healthcare Intelligence Platform

Cent — short for Century, reflecting its mission to help people live past 100 — is not your typical diagnostics company. The AI health startup combines whole-body MRI, low-dose CT, DEXA scans, ECG, and over 120 blood and urine biomarkers with AI-powered synthesis to screen for cancer, cardiac, neurological, and metabolic (CCNM) conditions in completely asymptomatic individuals. Preventive healthcare intelligence, as Cent positions it, is about finding disease before it finds you.

Each assessment is followed by a structured clinical consultation, turning raw data into a clear health action plan. The entire protocol is completed in a single visit — a major logistical leap from how fragmented health screening has traditionally worked in India. Cent sits among a fast-growing group of top healthtech startups in India that are redefining how early diagnosis is delivered.

Shashank ND, Ex-Ola CMO Anshul Khandelwal, and Arpit Garg Join Forces

This isn’t a solo act. Shashank ND has brought on Anshul Khandelwal, former CMO of Ola, and Arpit Garg, a seasoned sales leader, as cofounders. The trio brings together product depth, brand-building muscle, and commercial execution — exactly what a startup trying to build a national screening network needs.

“Five years ago, this level of integrated screening was not technically feasible,” said Garg. “The convergence of advanced MRI, AI-assisted radiology, and multi-omics analysis now allows us to screen for 300+ conditions in a single visit and a faster scan time.”

That’s not marketing language. It’s a genuine inflection point, driven by how dramatically imaging and AI capabilities have matured in recent years.

$5 Mn Seed Funding: OneFlow Holdings and South Park Commons Back Cent

Cent’s seed round was led by OneFlow Holdings, the family office of Shashank ND himself, alongside South Park Commons — a San Francisco-based fund known for backing deep-tech and frontier science ventures. The company didn’t disclose the figure, but sources confirmed to Inc42 the round stands at approximately $5 Mn. “reported by Economic Times“

The founder backing his own venture with personal capital is a strong signal. It suggests conviction, not just opportunity. Shashank’s broader healthcare ambitions are well-documented — his earlier venture Practo has been aggressively expanding its digital health platform into the US and UAE markets, signalling a parallel push on both treatment and prevention fronts.

1,500 Scans, 26% Clinical Findings, and 50% Monthly Growth

Cent has been operational since the start of FY2025–26, though it only emerged from stealth today. In that time, it has completed 1,500 scans, primarily on asymptomatic patients — people who felt perfectly fine walking in. The results are striking: 26% of scans revealed clinically relevant findings, and 4% flagged critical conditions requiring immediate medical attention.

That 4% figure is the entire argument for preventive healthcare intelligence. Those patients had no symptoms. Without Cent, many may not have known until it was far too late.

The startup has grown 50% month-on-month since launch and is running an annualised revenue run rate of approximately $2 Mn, with a target of 5,000 scans by year-end.

Expansion Plans: Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru — Then Pune and Hyderabad

Cent’s early disease detection centres will begin rolling out across Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru starting next month, with Pune and Hyderabad to follow in a later phase. Each centre follows a single-purpose, standardised workflow — built specifically to detect CCNM conditions. The narrow focus is intentional: it’s how Cent plans to control quality, cut costs, and scale without diluting clinical protocol.

“India has built world-class treatment capability, but our healthcare system is still oriented around disease that has already declared itself,” said Shashank. “In the preventive space, we need dedicated infrastructure, the right technology, the right protocols, the right capital — built specifically for detection.”

Why Preventive Healthtech in India Is Having Its Moment in 2026

Cent isn’t building in a vacuum. Across India, a new wave of AI-powered preventive health startups is gaining serious traction. Biopeak, which maps organ health for early risk detection, raised $2.7 Mn in January 2026 to expand its clinic network. Investors increasingly view the preventive segment as high-growth and deeply underserved.

Post-pandemic health anxiety, rising chronic disease burden, and the falling cost of advanced imaging have all aligned to create a rare market window. Catching disease early is no longer a luxury pitch — it’s a financial and clinical no-brainer.

Meanwhile, Practo itself is reportedly eyeing a $100–125 Mn pre-IPO round. Two bets on Indian healthcare’s future — from the same founder.

The Bottom Line

Cent is a rare early-stage startup — one that surfaces from stealth with real revenue, real clinical outcomes, and a team that has scaled before. The preventive healthcare intelligence space is crowded with intent but thin on execution. If the early numbers hold, Cent may be the venture that finally cracks it at scale.

For deeper insights into India’s fastest-growing startups and the latest funding announcements, visit KnowStartup for comprehensive coverage of the startup ecosystem.

Author

Sachin

Sachin Sidharth is a Digital Marketing professional with a master’s degree in Digital Marketing from Coventry University, UK. He has 10+ years of blogging and online marketing experience. He currently heads Digital Acquisition for a leading London-based Fintech firm. At KnowStartup.com He focuses on writing Digital Marketing guides and manages...

Sachin Sidharth is a Digital Marketing professional with a master’s degree in Digital Marketing from Coventry University, UK. He has 10+ years of blogging and online marketing experience. He currently heads Digital Acquisition for a leading London-based Fintech firm. At KnowStartup.com He focuses on writing Digital Marketing guides and manages KnowStartup's Digital Agency rankings of firms across multiple cities in India. You can reach him on Linkedin.

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