The Vets, a tech-enabled pet care platform providing premium at-home pet care and championing a healthy work environment for veterinarians, today announced $40 million secured in seed funding. The round was led by Co-Founder, Target Global, a leading international investment and brand building firm, PICO Venture Partners, and Bolt Ventures. The Vets is transforming the pet care landscape through a unique business model that provides veterinarians a positive work/life balance and brings “white glove” pet care directly to pet owners in-home. By marrying technological innovation and exceptional at-home veterinary care, The Vets is redefining the antiquated pet healthcare space. With this funding, the company will prioritize expanding its veterinarian recruitment across the country. The Vets is currently operating in Miami, Tampa, Dallas, Austin, Houston, Portland, Seattle, Las Vegas, Denver, and announces the launch of New York City today.
With plans to expand to 25 cities by the end of 2022, The Vets is meeting the demand of the nearly 106 million American households that own a dog and/or cat, according to the American Pet Products Association (APPA). Founded in 2021 as part of co-founder Target Global’s venture building program, the team of co-founders including CEO Daniel Sagis, COO Dori Fussmann, and Target Global are on a mission to transform what it means to care for pets. As a result of COVID popularizing the convenience and safety of at-home services, the company provides flexibility for not only pet parents but veterinarians and technicians alike. Bringing back the novelty of “the family vet,” practitioners are able to sit with each family to discuss medical conditions and preventative care, observing the pet(s) in its home environment. Further, they provide client education, nutrition information, and more, which is recorded in the pet’s profile.
“For too long, veterinarians have been overworked, underpaid, and under-appreciated. At our core, we believe happy, healthy pets come from happy, healthy vets,” said Daniel Sagis, CEO and Co-Founder of The Vets. “This funding round will further position The Vets as the next generation of pet healthcare, leveraging preemptive technology, allowing us to strengthen our footprint and penetrate new markets much more efficiently and effectively.”
As the pet population and market both steadily increase, flaws within the pet healthcare system are coming to light. The Vets is also addressing the growing issue of burn out among veterinarians while ensuring the animals they treat receive the best care possible. According to the AVMA and Association of Veterinary Technician Educators, veterinarian turnover is 2x that of a physician with 35% of vet techs eventually burning out and half leaving the profession within 5 years. To address this growing issue, compared to working 5-6 days and seeing 20+ pets a day, The Vets promote 4-day work weeks and a daily appointment limit for veterinarians to ensure their well-being stays top-of-mind.
“I joined The Vets because I was looking for something different than a traditional veterinary clinic. I missed the bond I created with my pet clients and patients as I had so many appointments throughout the day,” said Dr. Amanda Cairncross, Veterinarian, DVM. “The Vets built an environment where I have more time to cultivate relationships. When I am able to help patients or pet parents that cannot physically get to the clinic for help, it is more rewarding for me.”
Bringing pet healthcare into the home not only allows the veterinarian to develop stronger relationships with pets and their owners, but the pet is also comfortable in a stress-free environment. Among the top reasons that pet owners avoid or postpone their visit to the vet clinic, the stress of transporting their pet, restrictive pet carriers, and crowded waiting rooms top the list. The added stress on a pet can cause inaccurate vitals during the wellness check, which puts them at risk for the veterinarians missing or misdiagnosing potential illnesses. Pet parents can leverage online booking for highly personalized, at-home veterinary visits on their own time, which eliminates the added stress and anxiety of bringing a pet in for an in-person appointment.
“As the pet care industry doubles over the next decade, the healthcare system around it is fundamentally flawed,” said Shmuel Chafets, Chairman at The Vets and Co-Founder at Target Global. “We were energized by The Vets’ willingness to challenge the $120 billion pet care industry and wanted to build a consumer brand together that would bring true value to veterinarians and pet owners by addressing the problem head-on.”
While The Vets is providing an added layer of at-home comfort, they aren’t lacking in the technical realm – visits feature full diagnostics including blood workup and capturing vitals. Aggregating data from these comprehensive care visits across the nation also allows for more accurate diagnoses and healthcare predictions, as well as analysis of possible trends by breed. Since its inception in early 2021, The Vets have served more than 7,000 pets, solidifying high retention across its clientele. For more information, visit thevets.com.
About The Vets
Founded in 2021, The Vets is bringing pet care home. We are a tech enabled veterinary care provider, removing undue stress and bringing comprehensive pet care into the comfort of your home. We pride ourselves in building a team of industry leading veterinarians supported through training, development and advanced medical technologies to deliver the most comprehensive health care for your pet, all in a stress-free environment. Powered by a group of over 130 employees, we currently operate in 9 cities with plans to expand to 25 by the end of 2022.
About Target Global
Target Global is a pan-European technology investment firm with more than €3.5 billion in assets under management. Target invests in companies across all stages of their life cycle from pre-seed to pre-IPO across fintech, tech-enabled consumer, tech-enabled mobility, healthcare and software. Since 2012, Target has invested in global winners including Delivery Hero, Auto1 Group, Rapyd, WeFox, Flink, TravelPerk, Copper and many others. Target’s experienced team of investors, many of whom started their journeys as entrepreneurs and operators, help exceptional entrepreneurs build leading companies that target trillion dollar markets. To date, Target has backed more than 100 companies including 11 unicorns, had 17 exits and 7 realized IPOs. Headquartered in Berlin, Target has offices across London, Tel Aviv, Barcelona and is constantly expanding to new geographies. To learn more about Target Global, please visit: https://www.targetglobal.vc.
