According to a recent report by Mars Veterinary Health from 2022, there is a “need for more than 41,000 vets to enter the industry over the next decade to meet demand. Not enough people are entering this field, so there will be an estimated shortage of 15,000 veterinarians by 2030”. Also, the pandemic fueled the growth of pet adoption to record highs, which means that these numbers will keep increasing daily. This is where Airvet, a pet telehealth startup, has come into action and raised $18.2M, which will now focus on enterprise customers. Airvet says that this latest round of funding will help them with “product development and to build out the company’s sales and marketing teams.”
Airvet CEO Werber said, “The vet shortage is going to make it very expensive and very, very difficult to get care for your pets when they’re sick.” “So many vets today are not taking new clients at all. They’re just telling you to find another vet, an urgent care, or an ER. The problem is most people can’t afford impromptu trips to the vet. It’s costly.” Talking about his shift towards the enterprise route, Werber said, “When the markets shifted, it put back into focus that you can’t just build fast and recklessly,” and added that “You have to build with an eye and a path towards profitability, healthy margins, healthy unit economics and building a real scalable business. We had to take hard looks at our model and our strategy.”
The CEO mentioned that “he expects Airvet to reach over 50 customers in the next year and that revenue was “growing at a faster rate than before.” but did not go into specifics about numbers. He said, “The biggest plans for us now are to build this category into a ubiquitous category for all employers and enterprises who want to acknowledge, support, and celebrate pet families and provide services and resources for them in areas where they are struggling” and “A big part of that is access and affordability of pet care.”
