Starting with any relevant education, walk me through the twists and turns of your career to date? How did one opportunity lead to the next + what was the key takeaway/ experience in each role + how did this lead you to where you are now)
I'm a veterinary surgeon by training. So, I was an undergraduate at the University of Edinburgh. Some early life in clinical practice, first opinion, clinical practice of all species, cats, dogs, horses, farm animals, and then I spent some time back in academia. So, I had time at UC Davis in California. I spent a year at the University of Sydney in Australia, and four years at the Royal Veterinary College. And that really engendered a spirit of interest in me about how we can develop new products and services to support pet care. Then I obviously went into clinical practice, and that intrigue about developing new ways of addressing health and welfare and animals was really sort of the thesis behind me wanting to set up my own veterinary practice. I had my own chain of veterinary clinics, really looking at a new model for farm animal practice delivery. Then that opportunity led me through a liquidity event and the sale of that business. Laterally, most of my role has been around trying to think about and create new innovative solutions that will help animals. So, I guess my core thesis of being a vet hopefully then comes out through the number of different businesses that I've been involved in. I was lucky enough, I've got a law degree along the way, and I've had specialist qualifications in farm animal practice as well.
My broad role is around two areas. One around AgTech. So as being a farm vet by background I was looking at all the ways that new technology can help improve health and welfare, that can help the vet around the diagnosis that they make and the role that they play on farm. And that can support animal health companies with the portfolio of products that they create and produce that support, all of the farmed animals that we keep for milk, meat and fibre. So, Ag Tech's a big thing, whether its wearables, camera technology, microphone technology, all of those are looking at the interface and the outcomes that the animals show us. So that's one side. And then on the other side, I'm really into looking at new models for pet care as well. So, we're seeing changing habits of pet owners in terms of where they would like to consume pet care. More and more of them want to consume it in their own home. They want to take a bigger role in their pet's health. They're also aware of more that can be done with their pets. So, we're seeing Medicalization of pets. Almost analogous to the things that we can do with our own human healthcare. And so that medicalization and the humanization that the opportunity to deliver pet care health in the home is of real interest to me. So, again, I'm interested in the technology, I'm interested in how the service of home pet care gets delivered. And particularly in terms of how it's financed as well because we know that there's an increase in cost of delivery and medical care as we're seeing in the UK, the debates around how far we can go in supporting the NHS, where we know that there's an inexorable rise in terms of what we can do, and how could that be funded. And I'm equally interested in the health and the welfare of the pet, how we can carry on funding their care. And so that's where I came with the idea of the Heckin Good insurance.
You mentioned previously that your journey is a little bit different compared to other founder’s would you be able to expand on this?
Within this startup, we're looking at a novel pet insurance whereas my core training was as a farm vet originally. And I had a lectureship as a farm vet from my time in academia. And then the entirety of my working career as a practicing vet was in farm animal practice. So, it’s a little bit unusual then for a farm vet to jump and go into the companion animal sector. I also think the fact that I've had time in academia and in clinical practice gives me a good view of what's possible and where the commercial imperative is for a new product, and a new service. I think maybe some of my professional experience as well, both as a vet and as a lawyer, helps with the ability then to get a startup from an early inception, an early idea into becoming a product that can benefit animal’s health and welfare.
I've got a very privileged background in terms of being a vet and a lawyer. And both of those skills are helpful within business, especially for a business that's related to animals.
I've got a very privileged background in terms of being a vet and a lawyer. And both of those skills are helpful within business, especially for a business that's related to animals. So, I've also got a real interest in creating sustainable solutions. And that's why my interest to turn a lot of these initiatives into a business means they're more likely to have sustainability. And ultimately that means that they're going to benefit pets, not just for now, but for the future as well. If you can create something that you know is real and tangible and demanded by a customer.
Can you provide a quick summary of the technology/ area of innovation and its potential application?
So, what our research found was that there was a stagnation in pet insurance. There were very little new products which had come to market. All the new products that were coming to market were about increasing cover. So, providing enhanced services, more opportunity, we talked about the medicalization of pets earlier and all the new insurances are doing a good job, but they're increasing the cost of pet care delivery. And they often have significantly higher premiums. So, what we want to do is make sure that pets aren’t going to be excluded from pet insurance. Pet insurance can provide a vital cover for when the pet needs it, for example, a big surgery or has a catastrophe, accident, or illness, maybe that requires them going to the vet and to be hospitalized. And our research showed that there were a lot of people that were being left out of pet insurance.
So we've created a new novel pet insurance that just covers that inpatient care. So that hospitalization, that big ticket, almost taking pet insurance back to what it should be, almost a bit like car insurance, you probably would only typically claim if you were in an accident, you won't claim necessarily for the little door chip you might get, or the odd scratch on the bonnet. We wanted to create a pet insurance that was analogous to that, something that was there for the big-ticket issues but not something that was going to be claimed for every single thing. Most people we found realized there was an innate cost to pet ownership and were happy to cover the pet's routine cost and maybe for the minor ailments and the odd their visit. But what they really wanted is the cover for the big problems. So that's what we've created, and around that we've tried to create a package that helps the pet owner look after their pet to try and avoid those big problems happening so frequently. So that's why we've added in a free veterinary nurse telehealth. It's why we've added in several products that can keep the pet healthy at home without the need to go to the vet.
What stage are you at?
So, we’re aiming to launch end of Q1, 2024 with the insurance. So, the brand and the products have all been launched and our telehealth services now been going now for 18 months. So, all of that is underway and we are getting a good customer following around those services. But the key one obviously is the insurance, which we're just going through the process of registering ourselves with the financial conduct authority. As an independent managing general agent insurer, I will be completely independent. We won't be reliant on anybody else for our insurance product. And this is unlike many of the other insurer and pet insurance products out there, therefore we can be very quick to market. We can work with organizations such as the veterinary profession to help pet owners see the benefits of the product and we can be more control of that business. The big aim is to get this launched end of Q1, beginning of Q2 2024.
Discuss the biggest challenges of getting to this point? With the benefit of hindsight, what would you have done differently if anything?
A big challenge is getting FCA (Finance Conduct Authority) accredited. So because we're a new financial entity and because we wanted to do some quite special things with our insurance, things like being able to link into a pet's database through the veterinary practice management software, being able to create a full digital journey for the client, both for signing up to the pet insurance in the first place, but also for a full digital claims process. There was a lot we needed to do in developing the IT and the APIs, the ability to read across different databases which is taking some time. And the other problem that's taken some time is just making sure that we get regulated by the financial conduct authority. They're very, very stringent rules about who can become a regulated entity. And we've been going through that process to make sure that we meet the requirements of the governing body to make sure that we're a bonafide insurer in the first, when we launch.
Ironically, the easy part is the animal angle of it. The idea and creating the telehealth business and the products to support home care to a certain extent have been the easy part. It's making sure that we tick all the boxes and fill out all the legislation and conform to the legislation properly, which is taking the time.
I've found it interesting learning a whole new sector, and I can understand now for example, how aggregators work for insurance, and how that doesn’t necessarily drive innovation because aggregators work by comparing one very similar product to another very similar product. And that has meant that because a lot of people buy pet insurance through the aggregators, it means that new and innovative products sometimes struggle to get enough exposure. And so that's for example, one thing that we've learned through this process but we're unperturbed and making sure that we can stick to our principles of creating something that we believe will engage a wider audience with insurance.
How have you approached funding?
So again, we've funded this, first of all, the founders have funded quite a bit of it themselves. Two founders, myself, and Owen Mooney, who has a chain of veterinary practices himself. And then we've also had some angel investments to help us along the way. I believe in bootstrapping a business, and that's certainly until the point when you have a commercial product. So, we haven't done big fundraisers. We don't want to over commit at this stage. Clearly there are incentives also for the founders and for the angels if we can keep the investment as small as possible at this stage. We're also looking at novel ways of which gaining, to gain customers. So many new pet insurances recently have done the classic Google rankings or pay per click (PPC) way of acquiring new clients. We are looking to go direct to the pet owner rather than necessarily through the traditional online route. And that also can mean that we've got a reduced need for funds at this particular time.
What has been the greatest source of help/ guidance along the way?
We've needed a lot of help and guidance, learning a new sector. So, although Owen and my fellow founder is a vet and been very successful in business, he's had a couple of liquidity events from selling factory practices before and now runs 13 large companion animal veterinary clinics called Animal Trust. So a good vet and a good business person, and I'm lucky myself that I've had that experience as well. But both of us, I guess, needed the guidance around setting up a new type of entity and getting involved in financial products particularly, and insurance products. We need a lot of guidance as to how to create something that’s in a new area. It's a new and exciting area.
I think overall for animal care, I think we're going to look at ways of financing both pet care and livestock care in the future. And who should bear that cost? And for me, the learning that we've had working with the financial conduct authority, working with our primary underwriter and secondary underwriters has been invaluable to understanding the flow of finance that's required to fund pet care.
Best advice you’d pass on to other founders?
I'm also one of the founders of a network called Animal Health Angels which is specifically, myself and seven others that have come together to do exactly that, to provide advice, mentorship, and in some cases funding to other founders looking to take this journey through animal health. Maybe they've got a great idea for a product, or a service and they just need either some funding or some support to be able to make that a reality. So, my biggest recommendation is to seek out help in a couple of different areas. Clearly somebody from the industry is always very helpful to give you an insight as to what they've done, how they've progressed, how they've found markets, how they've found support, mentorship and maybe to not just look at your very narrow area. So, for example, if you're a vet, you might only think of the veterinary profession, but think of the more wider animal health industry when you're seeking that support. So, you know the pharmaceutical companies, you know pet insurance, the corporate veterinary groups, there's a whole host of other people that could come to give you the advice that you might need. And also, don't be afraid to look outside the industry as well. Our industry is changing and professionalizing, and there are other analogous industries as well where you might be able to gain some advice and information. So, try and use as wide a network as possible to gain you that support.
I've also talked to colleagues of mine that are lawyers in another world or work in financial services, but for a different sector to gain some advice and insight from them in terms of, for example, what we should be doing with our pet insurance business. Clearly, I can bring that innate animal experience to it, but it's been invaluable to speak to others that have a different view in terms of the product that we're trying to create.
What do you think are broadly the biggest needs and opportunities in the Animal Health and Petcare markets?
I think, there's lots of new opportunities coming. I think the key point is going to be finding out which of those are going to be successful. I believe that COVID spurned a lot of entrepreneurism, people were at home thinking about what new products and service they might be able to develop. Clearly technology is also moving on, both in terms of biopharma, but also in terms of digital tech, which spurs lots of new opportunities. The big issue is trying to work out which of those really have a market and a place and therefore an opportunity within our sector. So that narrowing the funnel really is something that, through the Angel network we're trying to help people with. And I think there's a lot of opportunity for partners such as Kisaco and the events that you put on to allow people to gain the exposure that they might need and allow the industry to try and then get behind and support the products and services that they think have a significant opportunity for the future.
I believe that COVID spurned a lot of entrepreneurism, people were at home thinking about what new products and service they might be able to develop.
What’s going to have the single biggest impact on change in your area of the market?
I think the underlying metrics are still very, very good. So, we can take away sort of the ups and downs of what we've seen with COVID or in the livestock sector, around commodity pricing. Actually, a growing global population, that's set to see another 2 billion people on this planet, all of which will become richer. So, we'll have more middle-class people owning more pets, more people able to afford higher protein sources. We're going to see a growth in the farm animal sector, more people spending money on enjoyment around animals. So, whether that's pet ownership or the equine industry. All of those metrics over the next three, four decades lead to a very strong industry, and I think that's why you've seen so much outside interest in our sector, not just in terms of the corporatization of veterinary clinics, but also now the investments that are being made into animal health companies or into analogous businesses. We're seeing chains of dog daycare and pet grooming and AgTech, as I mentioned earlier, so right across the animal spectrum, we're seeing a lot more interest in anything that's to do with animals, because we're going to have more animals and more need for animals, whether they're there for our food or whether they're there for our enjoyment. It’s an ever-growing market that’s got a lot of mileage ahead, certainly for the rest of my working career.
What do the next two years have in store for you?
Clearly, we're transfixed now on our launch. But we won't be sitting on our laurels once our core products out there. We want to think of new and innovative ways to make it easier for the pet owners to decide on, is insurance right for them? And if insurance is right for them, how and what sorts of cover should that be? And we also think it’s imperative on a product such as Buddy where we're only covering that inpatient care to also support the pet owner to try and avoid unnecessary visits to the vet as well. So how can we, and I think we'd all agree our pets will be much happier if they didn't have to go to the vet quite so often. So how can we develop new ways of keeping our pets healthy at home? That can come from some sort of core animal husbandry advice if you like. So how should we feed our pet? How should we exercise our pet? Where do we keep our pet? All of those types of basic questions. As well as what are the routine ways in which we can keep our pet healthy? So, are there ways that we could be doing more diagnosis at home? What should we be doing about routine treatments such as parasites or vaccinations? So, Buddy will be looking at the opportunity around all of those to make sure that pets stay happy and healthy, stay at home as much as possible, but can get supported when they need to go and see the vet.
The only other big thing that we've got is we probably, we'll be having a brand change as well early next year. The name buddy, although it sort of does exactly what we wanted, it seems to be a very crowded space. So, watch this space. If you see BuddyCare change to a different name, it's not a different company. It will be us deciding that we need something that's a bit more unique and exclusive to us because our proposition is so unique and exclusive.
