A Liverpool business whose digital platform allows pet owners 24-hour access to vets has raised an extra £310,000 in seed funding from angel investors. Tony McDonough reports

Liverpool vet technology venture VidiVet has raised an extra £310,000 in seed funding to support its next stage of its growth.

VidiVet was founded by fully qualified vet Ben Sweeney in 2020. He has developed an app that offers pet owners access to a UK registered vet, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It already has more than 10,000 users and employs 33 people.

Ben has already secured funding from the Government-owned British Business Bank, which looks to support high-growth start-ups. Now he has secured fresh investment from a number of business angels.

They include Wendy Furness, a member of the UK Business Angels Association and previously a director at Pride Veterinary Referrals in Derby, and Adam Tjolle, who was previously chief executive at Inglis Vets, which has practices throughout Edinburgh.

Late in 2022, VidiVet was crowned as the region’s most exciting technology scaleup at Rising Stars 5.0, hosted by Tech Nation. It saw off competition from 11 other tech ventures.

Ben, who is chief executive of the business, said: “We’ve grown rapidly over the past 12 months and have significantly increased the numbers of veterinary practices and pet owners who are using VidiVet.

“Winning the Tech Nation award, after competing against such a wide range of local technology businesses that are all doing impressive things, is a huge achievement for our whole team and incredibly humbling.

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“When this is combined with our latest funding round, which we had to close early after exceeding our initial target, it’s definitely a very exciting time for us.

“The money will enable us to continue growing our team to support the high numbers of veterinary practices we are on-boarding every month.

“The feedback we’re receiving from pet owners and vet practices has been excellent. The app also enables veterinary practices to increase capacity, as well as alleviating pressure for their teams, at a time when more than half of practices aren’t accepting new clients.”

He adds the app doesn’t replace veterinary practices, or even prescribing online. It works alongside the practice as part of an extended team to enable them to cater to all their clients’ needs, regardless of whether they’re open or closed.

“Giving pet owners instant access to a UK vet provides them with fast and reliable answers via the app, which gives them peace of mind,” added Ben who says VidiVet will seek further funding later in 2023.

“It also means when they attend a consultation in the practice, both the pet owner and vet already have a clear picture of the problem and if they don’t already have a potential solution, it at least means they are closer to a diagnosis.”