The pet care industry in South Korea is increasing fast as more and more Koreans get furry companions. Petcare startup Fitpet has gained a high success rate for its pet healthcare service from pet owners and investors. The companion animal healthcare solution startup recently attracted an investment of 20 billion won ($15 million) from BRV Capital Management (“BRV”).
BRV is an Asian investment platform of global venture capital (VC) Blue Run Ventures and is based in Seoul, Tokyo, Japan, Beijing and Shanghai, China, Hong Kong, and Menlo Park, USA. In South Korea, it invested 1 trillion won ($78 billion) in SSG.com and Affinity Equity Partners, a private equity fund manager, in 2019.
“It is the first large-scale overseas investment for a domestic companion animal company,” Koh Koh, CEO ofFitpet. Through this investment, Fitpet plans to accelerate establishing a pet insurance company based on establishing a more efficient and reliable veterinary hospital ecosystem and a vast amount of companion animal health database (DB). We will innovate the lives of companion animals and their owners.”
Super app for petcare
Fitpet is a companion animal super app that can meet various needs throughout the life cycle of companion animals based on data. The startup has a Pet Healthcare Platform that provides health management solutions for the entire life cycle of companion animals, from checking the symptoms of diseases, daily health management, treatment, veterinary clinics, routine check-up reminders, pet trainers, and home test-kits, hospital bills and insurance claims.
Fitpet’s flagship product is the easy-to-use and advanced mobile pet urine test kit ‘Ahead.’ The startup also has ‘Ahead Balance,’ a hair test kit, and ‘Ahead Gene’ to test companion animals for genetic diseases with saliva. In 2021, it launched ‘Ahead Dental’, the first oral examination kit for periodontal disease in companion animals and ‘Ahead Care’, a hospital insurance coverage service (first launch of ‘Ahead Basic Care’).
Fitpet’s DETECTs are used to identify different dogs through prints of their nose, which are unique in identification like human fingerprints. Fitpet sells over 2000 products through online ‘Fitpet Mall.’ In June 2021, the startup had closed on its Seed B funding with a cumulative amount of $26 million, the largest among pet startups in Korea. Now in addition to this BRV investment, Fitpet is in the process of attracting additional investment worth about 10 billion won ($7.8 million).
Read about other pet care startups in South Korea,
- The app of a Korean startup Petnow can help lost dogs reunite with their families using AI biometric recognition
- Korean startup’s Aladdin Pet Taxi service created for pet parents & driven by pet lovers
- Korean retail giant GS Retail & VC IMM PE acquire startup Pet Friends
- Korean startup Procyon’s Pet Price app can help to find the best Vet Clinic for your pooch
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