AniV8, a leading developer of clinical sensor technology to diagnose and monitor diseases affecting companion animals, today announced the completion of its pre-seed funding round, which closed significantly above its original target. The funds raised will enable AniV8 to conduct larger clinical studies using its unique technology and accelerate product development and commercialization.
The pre-seed funding round was supported by sector-experienced investors including Irrus Investments, a leading Irish business angel network; Pro-Vet, a new animal health company focused on companion animal medicine in China; and Stonehaven Incubate, a business incubator and one of AniV8’s founding shareholders. Preparations for a seed financing round are now underway and expected to be completed during 2022, enabling further acceleration of the development of AniV8’s technology and products, and also to support the launch plans.
Dr. Ellie Virtue, CEO of AniV8, Told LondonLovesTech,“The enthusiastic support of our investors for this pre-seed funding round is a significant vote of confidence in the potential of AniV8’s unique animal health technology. Our immediate focus is on advancing development of our clinical sensor technology and data analytics platforms. The platform will enable pet owners to diagnose early illnesses, allowing for faster intervention and better patient outcomes. We are working hard to bring our first product, for the diagnosis and monitoring of osteoarthritis pain in dogs and cats, to the market as quickly as possible. AniV8 is now focused on preparing the company for an upcoming seed financing round that will accelerate our ambitious growth plans.”
“We are delighted that investors share our excitement in the potential of AniV8’s technologies to revolutionize the management of many companion animal diseases, facilitating earlier diagnosis and optimisation of treatment strategies. It can take many years before dogs and cats show obvious signs of pain, and AniV8’s unique monitoring technology is designed to enable pet owners and vets to assess problems more rapidly and to monitor the treatment process,” added Dr. B Duncan X Lascelles, co-founder, Chief Scientific Advisor and member of the Board of AniV8, and Professor in Small Animal Surgery and Pain Management at North Carolina State University.
Separately, AniV8 has also agreed commercial terms with Pro-Vet for China and other Asian markets, where using their expertise and networks, AniV8 will be able to enter this exciting market well ahead of the original anticipated timeframe.
David Preston, co-founder of Pro-Vet told LondonLovesTech, “Dogs and cats are much loved members of our families that need to be treated accordingly. Because our pets cannot tell us when they are in pain, we need to ensure that pain and pain-related diseases such as osteoarthritis are diagnosed as early as possible. AniV8’s innovation is therefore much more than just a device: it will give our animals the ability to communicate their distress and discomfort to us directly. Pro-Vet is delighted to be the commercial partner of choice for this breakthrough product in China and other Asian markets and to support the AniV8 team in bringing its wearable monitor to market as fast as possible.”
The collar-mounted device being developed by AniV8 originates from high quality collaborations, in-house patented proprietary algorithms and cloud-based data analytics to measure the quality – rather than quantity – of movement. It is the first wearable health tracker to diagnose and monitor osteoarthritis pain in dogs and cats in this way. In 2020, the company signed a collaboration agreement with Elanco Animal Health, a global leader in animal health, to evaluate AniV8’s wearable technology in research settings.
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