Hello Vet, a group with six practices in London, has secured £15 million pounds in Series A funding to accelerate the growth of its business and its vision of offering clients greater transparency, more tangible value for their money and more affordable care.

This takes total investment to £21 million, following a £6 million Seed round in August 2023.

Hello Vet was founded in 2022 by healthcare entrepreneurs, James Lighton and Alessandro Guazzi, and veterinary surgeon Oli Viner. 

They opened their first site in London Fields in July 2024. 

VetSurgeon.org spoke to Oli, who explained some of the things Hello Vet is doing to offer greater transparency and tangible value whilst remaining affordable:

Oli said: "We're using technology to reduce the amount of time we spend on admin and mundane stuff, so we can concentrate more on those things which deliver better value for our clients.

"For example, our clinicians make clinical notes as normal, but they are translated by AI into treatments plans which, after a once-over by our nursing team, we give to clients both as an aide-memoire and as a tangible presentation of the advice they've bought from us.

"When we used to do this manually, it would take 10 minutes. With AI, that's down to 90 seconds.

"We also use WhatsApp to foster a better connection between clinicians and clients, and to triage cases. 

"We don't charge for interactions on WhatsApp, so it saves clients time and money whilst allowing us to focus our efforts where they are most needed and offer greater value.  

Hello Vet reckons its WhatApp triage service has saved clients more than £75K in fees alone in the last year.

Another novel side to the practice is that it allows clients into its procedure rooms to hold their pets’ paws as anaesthesia is administered and to be present when their pets wake up.

Oli said: "This reduces stress for both pets and people and there are studies¹ which have shown it improves outcomes and speeds recovery.

"As importantly, it shows tangible value to the client when they can see all the equipment we've invested in.

"Allowing clients to be there at the start of a procedure strengthens relationships with the team and builds trust."

Hello Vet now plans to launch clinics across the UK and hire a team of 200 vets and vet nurses over the next two years.

James Lighton, co-founder and CEO, said: “We know that most veterinary professionals come into this industry because they love working with animals.

"But too many good people are leaving this vocation.

"We want to become Britain’s best place to work, to ensure working in a vet clinic feels like the dream job it should be.

https://www.hellovet.co.uk 

Reference

1. Camarasa JJ, Gordo I, Bird FG, Vallefuoco R, Longley M, Brissot HN. Owner-assisted recovery and early discharge after surgical treatment in dogs with brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome. J Small Anim Pract. 2023 Nov;64(11):680-686. doi: 10.1111/jsap.13647. Epub 2023 Jun 21. PMID: 37345349.

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