FirstVet

Per and David first met while working for a company called VetZoo, which was the largest pet e-commerce business in the Nordics until it was acquired by EQT’s Musti-Ja-Mirri in 2016. It was a very successful company, but they had always wondered how the veterinary industry could better interact with its customers, which became all too real when on holiday that summer, David’s dog ran off in to overgrown bushes and came back looking very unwell. The experience to diagnose his pet was cumbersome and so along with co-founder Joakim Widigs, the three had the idea to create an on-demand video consultation platform with local, highly qualified vets. This allows you to be able to identify if your pet needs further assistants and if s/he does, by the time you get to the practise your pet will already have a diagnosis.

OMERS Ventures has been heavily interested in the pet space, as has OMERS Private Equity and Growth Equity, and in 2019 we lead the Series-B, took a board seat and are currently the largest shareholder in the business. Since launching, FirstVet has a presence in five markets (the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and its native Sweden) and has more than 200,000 registered users, helping over 150,000 pets.