Investment will be used to scale and support early traction within employee benefits and enterprise partnership channels.
LOS ANGELES, July 27, 2023 / — Airvet, the leading pet telehealth company, has closed an oversubscribed $18.2 million Series B round, led by Mountain Group Partners (MGP), with participation by Canvas Ventures, Headline, and Burst Capital, as well as strategic investors including Bob Antin, Founder and xCEO of VCA Animal Hospitals. This funding will support the continued expansion of Airvet’s partnership with enterprise and employer clients. Byron Smith, Managing Director at Mountain Group Partners, will join the Company’s Board of Directors.
“We’re honored to continue our partnership with Canvas Ventures, Headline, and many of our existing investors while bringing on Byron and MGP to lead this round and take the company to the next level,” said Brandon Werber, CEO of Airvet. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm around the early traction we’re seeing with employers and enterprises looking to offer more inclusive benefits that include pet families. This new investment enables us to invest in scaling and expanding our service offerings within and beyond telehealth, to help us become a single solution for enterprise-grade pet services,” added Airvet’s President, Dan Lieberman.
Mountain Group’s Byron Smith said, “Our MGP team has extensive background in the broader pet space and are impressed with the Airvet team’s vision to become a comprehensive digital care platform solution for pet families. Brandon’s background in pets, paired with Dan’s track record in digital health and benefits, makes an exciting leadership combination capable of executing the ambitious vision for Airvet.”
Airvet has built a strong foundation of employer clients, which include Adobe, Ceridian, and Rexford Industrial:
“When our employees found out that we were offering an employer sponsored benefit for our pet families that would allow them to talk to a vet any time, they were over the moon. It’s been well received and even elicits unprompted positive feedback, which is a testament to how it is both a high-quality experience while providing pet families with extended access to the veterinarian network, which is so greatly needed,” said Amber Drake, Global Work & Life Benefits Manager at Adobe.
On the household level, Morgan Stanley predicts pet spending to increase to $1,320 per pet by 2025, while reaching $1,897 by 2030. However, as the cost of pet ownership continues to rise, access to care is at an all-time low. According to a recent report, Mars Veterinary Health expects over 41,000 vets will need to enter the industry over the next ten years in order to meet the projected healthcare needs of U.S. pets in 2030. With an average of 2,500-2,600 graduates becoming veterinarians each year, there is an estimated 15,000 veterinarian shortage for U.S. animals by 2030. This means that pet parents can expect caring for their pets to continue being a stress-ridden experience with financial and mental health implications.
Now that 70% of all US households are pet families, the ubiquitous nature of pet ownership along with the evolving definition of family has created a pressing need for employers to reconsider how they are defining and broadening their approach to wellness and family benefits.
“Integrating Airvet into a company’s family and wellness benefits not only fosters a culture where all kinds of families are recognized and supported, but also impacts productivity through decreasing time away caring for a pet. And, with the mental health benefits of pets well proven, reinstating a core pillar of an employee’s mental health support enables them to do their best work, which at the end of the day is good for business,” says Werber.
“As an owner of dogs, chickens, rabbits, and horses (currently), I have a strong connection with the mission at Airvet to make the world a happier and healthier place for all pets and those who care for them. Following our investment in the Series A in 2020, we continue to hear from enterprise clients about incredible engagement from employee pet parents, which makes doubling down and expanding on our partnership with Airvet an easy decision. We’re excited to continue our journey together to become the market leader in digital pet health for enterprises,” says Rebecca Lynn, General Partner at Canvas Ventures
About Airvet
Founded in 2018, Airvet was built with a focus on modernizing the pet care experience and is the #1 rated pet telemedicine app in the App Store with over 7,300 reviews and a 4.9/5 star rating. As the nation’s largest and highest-rated pet telehealth company in the US and Canada, serving over 250,000+ pet families, Airvet provides 24/7 access to video visits and chats with thousands of licensed veterinarians and pet care providers, delivered as a highly valued employee benefit to companies like Adobe, Ceridian and Rexford Industrial.
Visit www.airvet.com/employers to learn more and direct any comments to press@airvet.com.
About Mountain Group Partners
Founded in 2002, Mountain Group Partners is a Nashville-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage companies in the life sciences, animal health and disruptive technology sectors. The firm has invested in companies across animal health primarily in companion animals and technologies centered on improving protein production. Mountain Group takes a hands-on approach to investing based upon its deep operational experience and currently has over $300 million in assets under management.
For more information on Mountain Group Partners, visit www.mtngp.com.
