At Forerunner, we believe in a better way to invest. We’re a venture capital firm focused on understanding the mindset of the modern consumer and identifying the people poised to deliver what they need. We believe that when entrepreneurs are poised to meet consumers not just where they are today but where they’re going to be tomorrow, they become more than just founders — they’re forerunners. By supporting them with funding, strategic wisdom, and consumer insight — our “CQ” — we help transform industries and drive culture forward.    We’re a San Francisco-based team of veterans and visionaries from multiple disciplines. What unites us is a shared belief that “good enough” just isn’t good enough. We’ve used our combined expertise to support trailblazing brands like Dollar Shave Club, Warby Parker, Hims & Hers, and dozens more.

Forerunner

Trust Ventures is a venture capital firm that focuses on startups and provides knowledge and expertise in incumbent-heavy industries. The firm was founded in 2018 and is based in Austin, Texas, United States.

Trust Ventures

Bling Capital is a venture capital investment firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. It primarily invests in consumer tech, internet, mobile, marketplace, data, fintech, SaaS, and automation sectors.

Bling Capital

Cold Start is a venture builder that incubates and funds mission-oriented companies.

Cold Start Ventures

Eclipse Ventures is a seed-stage venture firm managed by a team of former operators who are passionate about modernizing massive, physical industries like manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and healthcare. They work side by side with experienced founders who understand the need to transform these industries, and they provide guidance on everything from operating practices to fundraising strategies. Partnering means deep engagement as they build generational companies in sectors that define and propel economies.

Eclipse Ventures

Early-stage venture firm backing electric founders with an uncontrollable passion for creating. The company has offices in San Francisco and New York.

Adapt Ventures

Dutch

Dutch is a veterinary telehealth service that specializes in treating anxiety and allergies in pets. At Dutch, we’re on a mission to treat the curable ailments that keep our pets from living their best lives. Many of our pets suffer from chronic conditions such as allergies and anxiety. Sadly, many also go untreated. Traditional vet appointments are inconvenient, expensive, and often stressful for our best friends. This leads to putting off wellness visits until a pain point is unignorable and frequently pushing quality-of-life issues under the rug. This is the reality of pet healthcare in the U.S. — but we know we can do better.  By using telehealth solutions to connect pet parents with licensed veterinarians, Dutch makes veterinary visits convenient and practical. Dutch-affiliated vets work with your pet over time, whenever they need it, allowing our veterinarians to go beyond the symptoms and identify the root cause of your pet’s chronic suffering. We prescribe treatments and prescriptions that are medically backed, specialized to individual cases, and delivered directly to your door.  Dutch currently operates in the following eight states: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan, South Dakota, Virginia, Idaho, and Indiana.

<div>Dutch, is a subscription-based veterinary telemedicine provider, focusing on anxiety and allergy treatment for pets. Founded in 2021—by the founder of the leading multi-specialty telemedicine platform Hims and Hers, and Dr. Brian Evans, founder of Coastal Animal Hospital—Dutch offers services that are usually not covered by pet insurance plans for USD 15 per month which includes treatment plans and prescriptions.  As of February 2022, the company’s services were available in 18 US states including New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Washington and has served 25,000+ pets through 100 licensed veterinarians to date. </div>

Pet ownership is at an all time high in the United States and the pet care economy is booming.

Pet Care Tech

Burgerville takes on high-profile investors, including former Dutch Bros CEO

<div>
 
 Dutch, is a subscription-based veterinary telemedicine provider, focusing on anxiety and allergy treatment for pets. Founded in 2021—by the founder of the leading multi-specialty telemedicine platform Hims and Hers, and Dr. Brian Evans, founder of Coastal Animal Hospital—Dutch offers services that are usually not covered by pet insurance plans for USD 15 per month which includes treatment plans and prescriptions.  As of February 2022, the company’s services were available in 18 US states including New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Washington and has served 25,000+ pets through 100 licensed veterinarians to date. 
 
 
 In February 2022, the company raised 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8579">
 USD 20 million in a Series A funding round 
 </a>
 co-led by Forerunner Ventures and Eclipse Ventures. The round follows its 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/3948">
 USD 5 million seed round 
 </a>
 that launched Dutch out of beta in July 2021
 
 
  
 
</div>

<div>
 
 Digitail offers a cloud-based software platform for veterinarians that provides an online booking system, electronic record keeping, stock management, invoicing, billing, etc. The platform, which can be accessed from any device (mobile phones, laptops, desktops), is available in different packages on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) basis; USD 95 per month for mobile vets, USD 79 per month for small clinics, and USD 159 per month for large clinics. As of March 2021, the platform served 2,000 veterinarians across 16 countries.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In January 2023, the company raised 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16032?industryIds=7">
 USD 11 million in Series A funding
 </a>
 led by Atomico to expand its operations in the US and Canada. The round follows its USD 2.5 
 million seed funding in March 2021, led by the VC firm byFounders and Gradient Ventures (Google&rsquo;s AI fund).
 
</div>

Digitail

Gudog is a Spanish on-demand platform that connects dog owners with dog sitters for at-home dog sitting, dog walking, and dog daycare services. The company operates in France, UK, Germany, Ireland and Spain. In February 2019, the company merged with HouseMyDog, a similar company headquartered in the UK, to mutually expand its reach to more than 25,000 dog sitters on its platforms. As of February 2019, Gudog was considered to be the market leader in Spain. In February 2021, the company announced the acquisition of Host My Pet, a Finnish online pet sitting services company, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition is aimed at expanding operations into Nordic countries, starting with Finland. With the acquisition, the combined entity’s 17 full-time employees will serve approximately 650,000 pet owners across Europe.

GuDog

Urban Leash is an on-demand pet care service provider that offers dog walking and cat sitting services. The app is GPS-embedded, which allows pet owners to track the whereabouts of pets. Its dog walking services and cat services are are offered in Boston within the Fenway and Jamaica Plain neighborhoods, whereas cat sitting services are also provided in several other areas in Brookline. Urban Leash also provides care services for small animals, such as feeding fish, small birds, and small mammals. Administering medication is offered without any fees.

Urban Leash

TeleTails is a veterinary telehealth platform that allows pet owners to obtain advice from veterinarians and behaviorists when needed. The company’s software provides care teams with the ability to offer live video consultations, flexible messaging, and cross-team communication. In May 2020, the company launched TeleTails Instant in response to the Covid-19 pandemic to make veterinary services available at no cost during the crisis.

TeleTails

Based in the UK, PawSquad provides on-demand veterinary telehealth services through video consultations and online chats. Pet owners can instantly access veterinary practitioners without pre-scheduling. The company also offers home visits on request. Advice from general practitioners is priced at around USD 26 per visit, while specialist consultations are priced at around USD 62 per visit. PawSquad provides specialist services in dermatology and plans to introduce other areas, such as endocrinology, behavior, gastroenterology, and oncology in the future. As of February 2021, the company operated more than 1,500 clinics across 12 countries in Europe and had an employee base of more than 22,000, including 6,0000 veterinary professionals.In March 2021, was acquired by UK-based veterinary service provider IVC Evidensia, that operates across Europe, for an undisclosed amount. IVC Evidensia operated more than 1,500 clinics across 12 countries in Europe as of February 2021. The company also has an employee base of more than 22,000, including 6,0000 veterinary professionals.The acquisition will allow PawSquad to expand geographically while also providing pet owners accessibility to IVC Evidendsia’s veterinary professionals through PawSquad’s telehealth platform.

PawSquad

Companies that provide digital veterinary platforms to connect pet owners directly with online veterinary services.

Companies that provide mobile-based platforms to match pet owners with providers of pet services such as pet boarding, pet sitting, and dog walking.

Startups that offer innovative insurance solutions via digital platforms specialized for pet insurance coverage.

Companies that develop and offer technological solutions, such as self-cleaning tech, smart feeding devices, and interactive toys, to enhance and monitor pets' health and well-being.

Uses IoT technology to remotely monitor and interact with pets

AI and ML technologies enable pet owners to monitor and improve pet care

Offers digital platforms, such as veterinary telehealth services, to support the wellness of pets

Dutch

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