PetPanion has received a grant of £36,000 in a bid to help the app boost its delivery of pet welfare and veterinary care to an “even more advanced level”.
It comes after the group applied to the Innovate UK competition, which aimed to promote new business ideas during the nationwide lockdown.
The pet app was one of the winning applicants due to its “creative strategizing and focus on the needs of veterinary clinics and pet owners alike”.
The awarded grant will enable the group to create an “in-depth, veterinary-supported telehealth platform, which will provide continual veterinary advice, plus access to a veterinary clinic for the many pet parents who place too deep a trust in search engine pet health diagnoses”.
The platform aims to support pet owners in between scheduled veterinary appointments, relieving some pressure on veterinary surgeons but assisting with more “easy-to-assess” cases.
PetPanion also plans further growth with the development of a second App, which will be solely dedicated to veterinary professionals and clinics, allowing vets to create a new income channel from existing clients and attract new clients through a new tele-vet option.
According to the group, its latest growth plans come ahead of a possible second wave of Covid-19 infections this autumn. The group warns that many veterinary schedules are already “way behind” due to the first lockdown, leaving clinics under pressure and some pets unable to have routine treatments.
In its latest update, PeyPanion said that practices should be looking at “ways of being able to turn on their consultations and income earning online, at the touch of a button, rather than being caught out and left floundering, with no access to clients’ data, technological service delivery solutions or online consultancy channels”.
PetPanion’s founder, Qian Huang, said: “Many veterinary clinics are not naturally tech-savvy and typically focus on in-clinic care, delivered in traditional ways.
“Finding solutions to crises such as Covid-19 and lockdown is difficult to do, unless they can plug into something that already exists. We shall have that solution for them, should we experience another serious lockdown this autumn, but they can already be finding out how the App can assist them during normal times as well, by getting in touch with us now.”
