Petfolk co-CEO and founder Dr. Audrey Wystrach was raised on a ranch in Southern Arizona by nontraditional parents who encouraged their children to pursue their dreams, spawning a family of high-achievers and entrepreneurs.
Her determination to be a veterinarian never wavered from the age of 7, she said.
Her 28 years in the profession eventually led her to look at how companion-animal veterinary medicine is practiced, tweak the model and launch Petfolk, a template for a modern vet practice, in 2020.
Charlotte-based Petfolk this week announced the closing of a $40 million Series A fundraise, bringing the company’s total funding to $43 million. The round was led by White Star Capital and by Michael Wystrach, Dr. Wystrach’s brother and Petfolk co-founder, who also co-created the prepared meal delivery subscription service Freshly in 2012 and sold it to Nestle in 2020 for $1.5 billion.
The round also had participation from Triple Point Capital and celebrity backers Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley, Midland’s Mark Wystrach and Cameron Duddy, Jimmie Johnson, Erik Jones and Danica Patrick.
If you noticed a few country music names in that mix, there’s a connection: Mark Wystrach, lead singer of the country band Midland, is another brother.
The funds will be used to grow the company by more than five times next year, opening 20 facilities in five states in the Southeast. Currently, Petfolk operates vet clinics in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Georgia.
The company said it will see more than 40,000 pets at Petfolk clinics this year, representing 5,000% year-over-year growth.
Petfolk is a modern take on the vet’s office that is designed to reduce stress for both pets and pet parents while reducing friction for the provider, Dr. Wystrach explained. The company puts a large emphasis on thoughtful design, she said, for example, eliminating waiting rooms where anxious pets might be forced to interact.
Reducing stress for veterinarians also is important, as there are not enough to serve the growing population of pet owners. The pandemic put pressure on the industry, as it did on many others, and there aren't enough seats available in veterinary programs at universities to fill the void that will be left as an aging workforce retires.
The idea behind Petfolk is to provide modern, accessible, professional pet-care facilities accompanied by proprietary technology and a data platform for consumers and other technology that optimizes time and workflow to give Petfolk vets, who are all shareholders in the company, better life balance.
“As a veterinarian and founder, I have focused on making everything about pet care more clear and convenient, empowering our pet parents to make the best decisions for their best friend,” Dr. Wystrach said. “Success is all about happy and healthy pets and vets. There is so much opportunity to make veterinary medicine better for everyone.”
Petfolk also will offer telehealth and mobile pet-care access, and will soon be launch a 24/7 virtual care service.
Dr. Wystrach said she still practices as a veterinarian a few days a month so she can “talk the talk and walk the walk” while building the company from the ground up.
She also is a founder of and sits on the board of the Veterinary Virtual Care Association, an organization dedicated to making virtual care part of the standard in veterinary medicine by advocating best practices and providing educational resources.
She said that while an in-person relationship between vets and pet owners should come first, there is a place for telemedicine in veterinary practices. Laws vary from state to state, and although rules regulating pet telehealth were relaxed somewhat during the pandemic, it’s a legacy industry that’s slow to change, she said.
The number of women who are veterinarians surpassed the number of men nearly a decade ago, and female veterinary science students now far outnumber men. This is the first in a series of stories by CBJ-affiliated Bizwomen examining the changes and challenges facing veterinarians as they serve a growing number of pet owners, an aging workforce and stress brought on by the pandemic.
