Virtual veterinarian care platform Dutch has raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Forerunner Ventures and Eclipse Ventures. The San Francisco-based company’s latest round comes seven months after its market launch and brings its total funding raised to $25 million. Dutch utilizes licensed veterinarians and provides a digital health platform for pets and their families to make pet care more accessible.
The platform launched in July 2021 and was inspired by Dutch founder and CEO Joe Spector’s personal experience. Spector told TechCrunch that he realized there was an opportunity to create a modern form of accessible veterinary care after seeing that his brother’s anxious dog was being left untreated. He noted that many pet owners wait until their pet is experiencing a much larger issue so that they can make the most of one vet visit and just one fee, but pet owners shouldn’t have to do so anymore.
“Like tens of millions of other Americans, my wife and I got a pandemic puppy,” Spector said. “Even though we’ve been using telemedicine for ourselves and our kids during the lockdowns, I realized that pretty much any interaction I would need for my new pup would require me dragging him to the vet’s office, which is not only expensive but time-consuming. It didn’t make sense that humans and even babies could chat with a doctor online and get medications prescribed, but pet parents could not. I realized there was a much-needed opportunity to create a modern form of accessible, high-quality and trustworthy veterinary care for everyday ailments.”
Since its launch, Dutch has served over 25,000 pets through 100 licensed veterinarians. To get started with the platform, pet owners are asked to provide a few details, after which they can set up a time for a video call. Once you’ve completed your first visit, you can reconnect with a vet at any time through the platform. Dutch’s team of vets can help with numerous issues, including itching, tremors or shivering, hair loss, fear of being alone, diet and nutrition, fear of new places or people, red or inflamed skin, vomiting and more.
As for the new funding, Spector says Dutch will use it to invest in its intellectual property and grow its electronic medical records database to make it easier for pet owners to collect and share their pets’ data and prescriptions. The funding will also be used to grow its pharmacy network to enable same-day and next-day delivery. In addition, Dutch plans to hire across various divisions and double down on customer acquisition tools while also expanding its veterinary network.
In terms of the future, Spector says Dutch plans to build out its membership perks and also introduce more ways for customers to choose how they want to communicate based on the condition that their pet is in.
“Our north star is to put the power of pet health in the hands of consumers,” Spector said. “With the consumer at the center, we want to focus on bringing as many services as possible to the consumer’s door and on the consumer’s time. We want to make our product offering and pricing transparent, high value and customizable.”
Dutch’s Series A investment follows its Jimmy Fallon-backed $5 million seed round announced last year. The seed round was led by Forerunner Ventures and included participation from Bling Capital and Trust Ventures.
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