May 13, 2022

Invetx, Vet-AI & Fuzzy + Dandy

🐶 Industry News

– Earning Reports from some of the big US pet companies:

• Trupanion, the second largest US pet insurer, had first quarter revenue of $206 million, a 33% increase from last year. Total enrolled pets was 1,267,253, an increase of 34%.
• PetMed Express, an online pet pharmacy, had first quarter sales of $66 million, a decrease of 8% from last year. The company is trying to morph from a pure ecommerce business into a broader pet health brand. It’s recent partnership with telehealth startup Vetster hopes to lead the way.
• Elanco, a pharmaceutical company that makes products for pets and livestock, had first quarter revenue of $1.2 billion, a decrease of 1% from last year. Pet meds make up more than 50% of the company’s sales. 

–  Interesting profile of PetDx, a San Diego startup that screens for cancer in dogs. A recent trial of 1,100 dogs demonstrated that while the test is accurate, there may a problem for pet parents in figuring out how to proceed after a positive diagnosis: there simply aren’t many treatment options for dogs with cancer. 

💰 Financing & Deals

• Invetx, a Boston startup that is creating biotherapeutics (drugs made from living cells) for pets, raised a $60.5 million Series B round. Founded in 2018, the company expects to roll out its first product in 2025.

• Vet-AI, a UK startup that created a pet symptom checker app, has received funding from dog food company Hill’s Pet Nutrition. Founded in 2017, Vet-AI has raised over $15 million to date.

• Fuzzy, a San Francisco vet telehealth company, acquired Dandy, a pet supplement startup. Founded in 2016, Fuzzy has raised over $80 million to date and has facilitated over 1 million online consultations. Dandy was founded 2 years ago and uses big data to create personalized supplement and vitamin packs.

🤷 Somewhat Relevant

• Whisker, makers of the popular self-cleaning litterbox, Litter Robot, has released a new version that uses AI to learn about your cat and its bathroom usage.

• Dogs that are fed only once per day tend to be healthier according to the Dog Aging Project.

• A UK dog groomer who started posting live streams of her grooming sessions, has surpassed 30 million views.

💼️ Pet Industry Jobs

• Senior Business Operation Manager – Modern Animal (Los Angeles)

• Account-Based Marketing Specialist – PetDine (Colorado)

• Digital Marketing Specialist – Kong (Colorado)