NAVC reveals VMX Pet Pitch Competition finalists

Five finalists are vying to win a business pitch competition hosted by the North American Veterinary Community (NAVC) during the Veterinary Meeting & Expo (VMX) in Orlando, Florida. They include a mentorship and professional development program, a cloud solution for practice management, an automated blood counting tool, an inventory management solution, and a holistic parasite prevention solution.

The competitors will present their pitches live at the meeting as part of the fifth annual, shark-tank style VMX Pet Pitch Competition. The VMX Pet Pitch Competition will take place on the exposition floor, in the VMX Central Learning Theater Booth 2326, on Sunday, January 16, at 4:45 pm. The competition will be live-streamed and available afterward on the VMX Virtual Expo platform.

“The NAVC is committed to supporting these startup companies and help raise visibility for exciting new products that will help veterinary professionals deliver even better health care to our animals,” said NAVC CEO, Gene O’Neill, in an organization press release. “The VMX Pet Pitch Competition and VMX Startup Circle gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to bring their innovative ideas to life, network with global leaders in animal healthcare and receive mentorship and critical feedback to help accelerate their ideas into a thriving business.”

The 5 finalists in the VMX Pet Pitch Competition are as follows:

• MentorVet is an evidence-based mentorship and professional development program for early-career veterinarians. MentorVet provides holistic support to veterinarians through a combination of mentorship, mental health and financial coaching, and online training in professional skills to promote wellbeing in the transition to practice.
• Milo is a cloud solution that uses the latest technologies in software development to offer veterinary hospitals phone, texting, practice management solution (PMS), customer portal, customer relationship management (CRM) tools, marketing tools, website tools and more, all in one software package/system.
• Moichor has automated the process of counting and recognizing different types of cells using computer vision instead of flow cytometry. It is the first application of Artificial Intelligence and imaging used to automate complete blood count (CBC) tests. This new technology enables not only in-depth analysis of routine CBCs, but also the automated detection of hemopathologic disease that would otherwise go undiscovered via standard automated CBC methodologies.
• VetSnap addresses inventory management, an underserved and overlooked, but crucial function within the veterinary field. VetSnap is an integrated, automated inventory management solution that is agnostic to Product Information Managers (PIMs) and works with multiple distributors/manufacturers to streamline the inventory management process for veterinary hospitals.
• Vetted Pet Health is a holistic preventative care solution for pets. Subscribers receive a quarterly preventative health kit with heartworm, flea, and tick preventatives, as well as high caliber diagnostics and supplies shipped to their door. Additionally, pet parent members have 24/7 access to chat with a vet professional which allows Vetted to proactively engage members on appropriate use of health kit tools.

The VMX Pet Pitch Competition and Startup Circle give new companies the opportunity to introduce their products, services, and solutions to thousands of veterinary professionals and practice decision makers, according to NAVC. The competition entries are designed to enable veterinary professionals to operate more efficiently and deliver better health care solutions to clients and pets.

The finalists were selected from a competitive pool of more than 35 startup companies that will exhibit their products in the VMX Startup Circle at the conference. A winner will be chosen by a panel of judges that includes Harold Davis, BA, RVT, VTS (ECC), president-elect of the NAVC Board of Directors.

The winner of this year’s VMX Pet Pitch Competition will receive a complimentary exhibitor booth at the upcoming Veterinary Innovation Summit in Kansas City, Missouri, and an invitation to attend Purina’s PetCare Innovation Network’s annual Innovation Summit—an invitation only event held at Nestle-Purina headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, according to NAVC.

Reference

NAVC announces VMX 2022 Pet Pitch competition finalists. News release. North American Veterinary Community. January 12, 2022.