New Yorkers are serious about many things – like brunch, pizza, and bagels but it’s not outlandish to say that New Yorkers are most serious about their pets. That’s why Bond Vet has launched the first NYC urgent care and walk-in veterinary clinic. Offering the convenience of late hours and walk-in immediate access, Bond Vet has mindfully planned and decorated its space to reinforce a calm and caring environment for your pets. With plans to plans to expand from its one Brooklyn location, the Bond Vet experience may just leave you wondering if your pet’s getting better healthcare than you!
AlleyWatch chatted with cofounder and CEO Mo Punjani to learn more about the inspiration of the company, how its leveraging technology to bring a best-in-class experience to pets and their owners, the company’s future plans, and recent round of funding.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We raised $6M in funding from Talisman Capital Partners. Talisman is the private investment company behind many successful businesses in the healthcare space, including Cardinal Health.
Tell us about the product or service that Bond Vet offers.
Bond Vet is an animal health company led by myself, Dr. Zay Satchu, and Lukas Keindl. Our mission is to strengthen the human-animal bond through better pet care, so we’re building urgent care + walk-in veterinary clinics in New York and beyond. Our clinics are tech-enabled and powered by proprietary software, but the primary emphasis is on pets and their humans. Inclusive and open to all, Bond Vet is committed to immediate & affordable care, and patients can either walk right in or book an appointment through the website or mobile app.
What inspired you to start Bond Vet?
We wanted to find a way to create a positive impact on the lives of pets and pet parents. The existing veterinary model worked, but we felt it could be improved, and so Bond Vet was born. We see ourselves as uplifters — not necessarily disruptors — of the industry, elevating the veterinary care experience and making our clinics a place that pets and their parents actually want to visit.
How is Bond Vet different?
Our key differentiators are design, service, technology, and team culture. We’ve created calmer spaces to make pets and pet parents feel safe and comforted, including details like a treat wall, drink station, and a pet parent’s lounge. We offer immediate and affordable access to our entire care team with late hours (because pets don’t just get sick from 9-5), transparent pricing and same-day visits. We’ve built proprietary software that enables a smoother client experience and will improve our care team’s workflow, and we are getting ready to launch our telehealth services designed to navigate tricky moments from home. Most importantly, we care deeply about our company culture and empower our entire care team to make decisions, something that we know from experience and data has been lacking in the veterinary space.
How is your business tech-enabled?
We have two areas of technology that power our business. On the client-facing side, we are offering seamless telehealth options to pet parents (inspired by services like Lemonaid, One Medical, Ro, and Teladoc). We are also striving to ensure that our care team does not get weighed down by tasks that can be streamlined through software, so we have built tools to make their lives easier, which allows our care teams to focus and spend more time with your pets when you are at our facilities.
We are also striving to ensure that our care team does not get weighed down by tasks that can be streamlined through software, so we have built tools to make their lives easier, which allows our care teams to focus and spend more time with your pets when you are at our facilities
What market does Bond Vet target and how big is it?
We are targeting the $18B veterinary segment within the $75B U.S. pet care industry. There are over 28,000 veterinary clinics in the country. As busy individuals, we have been accustomed to visiting human urgent care centers, and we are bringing a similar level of convenience and value to pet health.
What’s your business model?
We solve pet health issues for pet parents at our veterinary practices and through our iOS app interfaces.
What was the funding process like?
When we first started the company, we had the privilege of speaking and brainstorming with a phenomenal group of advisors, including leading technology entrepreneurs, as well as leaders across the healthcare and veterinary industries. During our iteration and testing process, Talisman had a unique appreciation for our vision, as they had a combination of healthcare, technology, and veterinary investment experience, and they clearly understood the value Bond would bring to pet parents.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Our model encompasses both the physical and software space and does not fit neatly into a box, so some investment firms simply are not interested in building out physical locations. However, we were deliberate in outlining the merits of building out the entire pet health value chain, as this is how we could most effectively solve problems for pet parents.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
The trends are clear, we love our pets, and an increasing share of our income goes to making their lives better. When they get sick, we will go to the ends of the earth to help them, and Bond Vet is the most convenient and high-value choice.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
Our first urgent care and walk-in vet clinic opened in Cobble Hill a few days ago — come by to say hello and grab some treats! We will be launching our second facility in the Upper East Side this fall.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
If you have conviction in your mission and vision, then you will find unique ways of moving towards a minimum viable product to attract investors.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We will continue to expand our physical footprint throughout New York City next year (10+ clinics), and we will also be expanding our telehealth platform to better serve a variety of cases.
What’s your favorite restaurant in the city?
Wherever we are opening clinics, we love plugging into the neighborhood and getting to know the other local businesses. La Vara is near our first clinic in Cobble Hill, and I love the welcoming food and comfortable vibe there.
