Pet owners are very invested in their animal companions, and now more than ever they are turning to technology to help them manage their interspecies families. If Seattle startup Rover is any indication, the area is ripe for tech solutions — the pet walking and boarding platform has grown astronomically since it was founded in 2011 and has raised more than $150 million.
Now another Seattle startup, Petriage, is hoping to make its mark in the pet tech market. The company has raised $400,000 in bootstrapped funds and a family-and-friends round and is currently raising angel funds for its tech platform that helps pet owners decide what to do in medical emergencies.
Petriage co-founder and CEO Allon Freiman told GeekWire via email that the inspiration for the startup came from one of its co-founders Casey Olives, who works as the company’s data science lead.
A few years ago, Olives’ dog had a seizure late at night. Olives started rushing to an emergency animal hospital nearby, but after calling his family vet on the way discovered the seizure wasn’t as serious as he thought and didn’t need to be treated immediately. He was able to go home and visit his normal vet clinic in the morning.
“Thus was born the idea for the core feature of the Petriage platform, our Symptom Analysis tool that empowers pet parents by providing them with actionable information and engages their family vet,” Freiman told GeekWire.
Freiman is serving as the startup’s CEO and is currently its only full-time employee. The startup’s other founders are all still involved and Freiman said the company is planning to start hiring quickly after its angel round is complete.
Other founders include Olives, who holds a data science degree from Harvard and has worked at the University of Washington, the Climate Corporation and currently at mobile data and analytics company Premise Data; independent web developer Matthew Fordham, who leads product development; and veterinarian Shlomo Freiman, Allon’s father, who acts as the company’s Chief Veterinary Officer.
Shlomo Freiman is a family vet at the Animal Hospital of Factoria, which he also owns. The hospital has been a testing ground for Petriage’s app.
Using the app, pet owners can put in pet’s symptoms to get a recommendation on how to handle a potential medical emergency. The app’s algorithm determines if the pet needs immediate care or if it’s safe to wait and make an appointment the next day.
The app also automatically notifies the user’s vet clinic so everyone is on the same page and vets are aware of the potential problem. Freiman says Petriage fits into the changing world of how medical centers interact with patients, even when those patients have four legs instead of two.
“To satisfy client needs in today’s on-demand economy they need to become ‘brick and click’ vets. Petriage enables vets to do so by offering a telemedicine service that empowers their clients and engages them in the remote care of their patients,” Freiman said.
