Research conducted by Startup Bakery reveals how the relationship between veterinarians and pet owners shows several pain points today, and confirms the need for technology solutions aimed at improving not only the practitioner’s work but also the health of the animals themselves, in a market worth nearly 20 billion euros in Europe alone, with 85 million pet owners and 0.35 veterinarians per 1,000 inhabitants.
The veterinarian is in fact a figure whose professionalism and time often go unrecognised, and who in recent years has had to face an ever more demanding clientele, active on peer-to-peer communication systems, to the detriment of the quality of their work.
Among the most critical aspects: an overload of emails, phone calls and boundless messaging, scant recognition of the time spent on extra-visit activities, the habit of working alone and the absence of advanced digital tools for support.
An efficiency gain of even 50% on the time spent on extra activities would allow the veterinarian to treat up to 2 more animals per day.
On the basis of these needs, Startup Bakery has launched Veterly in pre-order, its first spun-up startup, a solution that simplifies the veterinarian/client relationship for the benefit of our life companions, and opens a 700,000 euro capital raise. 200,000 of these are made available by Startup Bakery, following the first 100,000 already invested to validate the initiative.
Milan, 15 April 2021: Little more than a year after its founding, Startup Bakery, the Italian startup studio specialised in sustainable B2B SaaS solutions supported by elements of artificial intelligence, launches in pre-order Veterly, its first spun-up startup, a solution destined to simplify the veterinarian-client relationship for the benefit of animal health, and opens a 700,000 euro capital raise in its favour.
“Digital transformation is a process that, to a greater or lesser degree, is involving almost every company in every sector, and even some traditionally less ‘technological’ professions now find themselves facing an inevitable change, helped along by the difficult situation caused by the effects of the ongoing pandemic and by changing user habits, commented Alessandro Arrigo, CEO of Startup Bakery, One of these is without doubt the veterinary practitioner, the specialist in caring for domestic and companion animals who, in recent years, has had to face an ever more demanding clientele, active on peer-to-peer communication systems such as WhatsApp, Telegram or Messenger, to the detriment of the quality of their work”.
And according to the recent research conducted by the Studio, “Digitising the veterinarian-client relationship” (abstract below*), on a selected sample of respondents, the relationship between veterinarians and pet owners today shows several pain points. On one side, veterinarians complain of an information overload in the relationship with pet owners: emails, phone calls and messaging invade practitioners’ days with no regard for working hours, leaving them working less and worse in order to handle every kind of request, and more than half of veterinarians consider receiving photos and videos on WhatsApp “a problem”. 59.5% would welcome a reduction in the time spent handling client requests across communication channels, and 81% would like to see their professional value recognised in this kind of “extra” activity too.
Pet owners, on the other hand, say they are increasingly inclined to use technology solutions: almost 90% are interested in receiving test results via an app, while 68% would like to be able to request an opinion on their animal’s symptoms and problems by sending photos or videos. And among those living in large cities and owning more than one animal, interest in innovative solutions is growing.
“Many of these problems can be solved by adopting technology solutions built on concrete needs, which is what we have worked on over the past 6 months, investing as a Studio the first 100,000 euros in Veterly and working on it first-hand, adds Alessandro Arrigo , The survey is only one of the instruments our Startup Studio has used in order to validate the idea of its first startup, Veterly, at whose helm we find a senior figure of the digital landscape and a well-known entrepreneur in the “pet care” sector, Annalisa Mantovanelli, as co-founder. The capital increase was approved because Veterly broke through the validation threshold in terms of pre-orders collected from veterinarians, more than 100 in less than 1 month, eager to use the initiative. This convinced us, as Startup Bakery, to follow our initial investment with a further 200,000 of the 700,000 euro final target“.
Veterly intends to accompany, as naturally as possible, the digital transformation of the veterinarian-client relationship for the benefit of animal health. Improving the professional condition of those who carry out activities with high human-capital intensity is, moreover, one of the SDGs, the Sustainable Development Goals defined by the United Nations as a strategy “to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”, and more precisely number 8, target 8.2, which calls for “achieving higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, focusing on high value-added and labour-intensive sectors”.
“Veterly comes after detailed analysis and validation work on the project, conducted side by side with Startup Bakery and a selected group of veterinarians and their practices and clinics. We cannot wait to get going with the platform, added Annalisa Mantovanelli, The many pre-orders that have already reached us, just days after the site veterly.com went online, confirm the soundness of the work carried out together with the whole Studio team, making us particularly satisfied and confident about the next steps”.
The process of creating the first startup, lasting 9 months, has in fact cleared the first macro-phases of the Bakery’s “recipe”:
PICK, which goes from selecting the business idea to involving and testing with real customers, through to selecting the co-founders, the team of Cloud & AI specialists, the industrial partners and the investors needed for the project’s later phases;
MIX, which includes business validation, consolidating the co-founder figure, developing the first prototype with the CEO and team, involving further potential customers and validating the startup from a managerial, commercial and fundraising point of view.
Today, through pre-orders and the capital raise, it is preparing to face the following phases, BAKE and SERVE, that is, from the MVP to the exit with the industrial partner.
More information on Startup Bakery’s investment model can be found at this link.
*The research: “Digitising the veterinarian-client relationship”
TIME
On average, veterinarians manage to complete from 8 to 12 visits a day of up to 30 minutes each, which translate into a paid working session of 4-6 hours. The remaining time is on average devoted to communicating with clients (from 45 to 85 minutes) and to handling logistical and administrative activities (setting and managing appointments alone takes from 20 to 40 minutes). 59.5% of veterinarians would welcome a reduction in the time spent handling client requests across communication channels, and 81% would like to see their professional value recognised in this kind of “extra” activity too. If it were reduced by even 50%, the veterinarian would be able to see up to 2 more animals a day, increasing the availability of slots bookable by their clients (and thereby reducing waiting times for clients at the moment of booking).
MEDICAL CONSULTATIONS VIA WHATSAPP
More than one veterinarian in two considers receiving photos and videos on WhatsApp “a problem” (the percentage falls by 8 percentage points in the case of emails), something that happens “daily” according to 56% and “weekly” for 32%.
53% of veterinarians consider these practices useful for diagnostic purposes and for monitoring the animal, and 72% consider them useful for building client loyalty.
TECH PET OWNERS
Pet owners say they are increasingly inclined to use technology solutions: 59% have sent at least one photo or video to their veterinarian in the past year for a medical opinion. Among those who have done so at least once, the average is 7.5 times a year. Almost 78% would like to be able to continue doing so. Almost 90% are interested in receiving test results via an app. Among those living in large cities and owning more than one animal, interest in innovative solutions is higher than average.
APPRECIATION
Although they are highly appreciated by their clients, with an average rating of 8.77 on a scale from 1 to 10, veterinarians’ frustration is growing, since they do not see their professionalism and their time recognised. Both sides consider punctuality and availability two important aspects, and ones that could be improved.
