River Capital’s Fund:AI made a six-figure investment into leading pet health-tech platform company VidiVet Limited in September 2023.
About VidiVet
Liverpool vet Ben Sweeney came up with the idea of VidiVet to help pet owners in need of advice about their pets, no matter how big or small. This was against the backdrop of a national shortage of vets – just 35,000 registered vets dealing with a population of around 50 million pets in the UK, plus rising costs and the increasing use of digital solutions.
The result, based on insights from thousands of pet owners and vets, was an app which vet practices can offer to their customers to gain instant access to a real vet for free, with a personalised video response to any question in an average of five minutes.
For pet owners, it means instant peace of mind and prevents escalation to an avoidable emergency.
For vet practices it is a neutral service with no add-on sales which offers an extension to their own business, with all subsequent consultations remaining within the practice. It means the vet practice team is supported while the pet owners have 24/7 support both digitally and physically.
As more than 90 per cent of cases don’t need emergency treatment it also reduces the pressure on emergency vets, while saving pet owners hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of pounds.
Four years after its launch, VidiVet employs more than 40 vets based around the world plus a small team of staff and directors. It is used by more than 150 vet practices, serving around 75,000 pets.
Ben Sweeney said: “Our north star is helping vet practices to break down barriers to delivering brilliant care. Knowing that every pet will need a vet at some point in their life, delivering a seamless experience is the goal.
“Pet owners save money as they’re not paying emergency vet fees; they get the right advice within minutes from a qualified vet; and because the follow up treatment is delivered by their own vet the money goes back into those small practices helping them to invest in continuing to offer brilliant care.”
Another achievement for Ben and his team is changing attitudes to telehealth.
“We’ve managed to turn around a distrust of vets towards telehealth and a view that it’s cannibalising their business; we’ve shown that our model benefits everyone and that for me is a proud moment, to have achieved this level of trust – it’s an exciting time.”
How Fund:AI is boosting growth
VidiVet were named one of the UK’s Top 10 most exciting early-stage technology companies by Tech Nation in 2023 and were considering how best to build the business, when River Capital’s Fund:AI directors made contact.
As well as further capital, VidiVet needed technical advice on how to use the platform’s data and artificial intelligence to improve efficiency and customer experiences.
According to Ben Sweeney, the collaboration was a perfect fit.
“We wanted to raise the money locally and remain Liverpool-centric and we really liked River Capital and the fund directors’ passion for Liverpool-based businesses. We also valued their tech expertise and the ability to tap into their AI network and knowledge to help the business in the future.
“And they felt like the right people; you get a gut feeling when speaking to someone about whether they would be good to work with and there was a genuine good feeling about River Capital.”
Fund:AI Investment Director David Walters said: “It’s great to work with Ben and the team, Ben’s energy is highly infectious and he is genuinely open to our expert operational support. VidiVet are using their data to find ways to continually improve, for example looking for patterns in symptoms and experiences and using that to help vets to make better judgements.
“The business is growing rapidly and this is an exciting time, on a deep learning journey to unlock further potential for improved efficiency, increased customer satisfaction and ultimately, business growth.”