A London-based veterinary startup aiming to bring greater price transparency to animal care has raised £15 million to accelerate its expansion in the UK.
Hello Vet, which allows owners to stay with their pets as they go under and wake up from anesthesia, will open at least 20 to 25 new clinics and veterinary nurses over the next two years. The business says its growth will be carefully managed to ensure standards of care are maintained.
James Lighton, founder and CEO of Hi, said that money gives the company confidence to scale, but not the cost of quality. “We have funding for at least 20 or 25 clinics,” she said. “The pace is about how quickly we can be confident that the quality of care is not diminishing as we age. We’d better get it right in just four years.”
The latest financing round was led by the US Centere Capital Firm, the addition of the UK Future Investor, and those who work with animals that previously funded the business with $ 6 million at 20,50. Hi Vet we currently have about 7,500 registered patients.
The increase comes amid rising prices in the animal sector. The competition and the authorities reported in October that the average prices of the vet increased by 63 percent between 2016 and 2023, the longest inflation. We also found that pet owners pay an average of 16.6 percent more for large groups of animals than for private practices. The big six chains now control 60 per cent of UK clinics, compared to just 11 per cent a decade ago.
In response, the CMA proposed to require animal businesses to publish a list of prices in the comparison section, a move that could come into effect from the end of the process in 2026.
Next to its clinical model, hello vet offers a free WhatsApp WhatsApp service designed to help owners avoid unnecessary appointments. This service, which aims to respond within 15 minutes, is managed by local clinical teams and has helped owners save more than £75,000 last year according to the previous Company, according to the company.
Dr. Oli Viner, founder and Chief Veterinary Technology Officer, said this service can make a meaningful difference. “Not long after we opened, someone was concerned about their kitten’s breathing,” she said. “They sent us a video and we saw that the kittens were actually clean. In a traditional clinic, they should have been rushed, they should have been rushed and not needed.”
Hello Vet was founded in 2022 by Viner, Linnon and Alessandro Guzazzi, opening its first clinic in July last year. It has already launched four additional sites in London and Hertfordshire, with Ofth due in January. The company plans to grow using a HUB-and-POST model, combining large clinics in communities with smaller satellite locations in nearby areas as they expand across the country.
